A Special Present: New Version
by Purple Shamrock 17
Summary: COMPLETE! Original idea belongs to SamamthaRileyFox, I have merely accepted her offer of continuing it. Keith's gone but a part of him still remains with Natalie and will remain with her until the day she dies. Rated T for teen pregnancy.
1. Memories

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone here is my next Keith fanfic, although I can't really call it 'mine' fully because it was SamanthaRileyFox aka SammyLovesJasperHale who thought of this idea and who thought I was so capable of continuing it for her for which I feel so honored to do so.**

**So, really nothing belongs to me as the characters belong to Ron Carlson and Todd Kessler and the original idea for this story fully belongs to SamanthaRileyFox along with the first two chapters. Although with her permission, I have changed a few things about the first two chapters just to make everything 'flow' nicer. I hope you and she approve of them. **

A Special Present: New Version

Chapter 1

Memories

Natalie Anderson had just lost a friend, not just any friend, she had lost Keith Zetterstrom. Words couldn't explain how much he meant to her. Sure they hadn't known each other for that long, but to her it felt like they had been acquainted for an eternity. Just like she had promised at the airport she wouldn't leave Keith until he had to leave, no matter how long he had left, Natalie was there by his bedside early one Friday morning holding his hand as he took his last few breaths. He didn't say anything to her the entire time. Keith just simply smiled that trademark lopsided smile of his. Knowing that the end was near, Natalie called through his open door for Keith's father as the last gasp of air was filling his lungs, and just as he exhaled his father entered the room.

"He's in a better place now, reunited with his mother." He managed to choke out, amongst the tears that poured like rain down his cheeks.

The next few weeks had been a whirl wind of activities. Herself and Henry (he had insisted that she call him that ever since her first official meeting with him) would be planning Keith's funeral, and graduation was just around the corner. She had managed to pass all her APs, one in particular which she passed with flying colors was Chemistry. Natalie smiled when she got her Chemistry result back, and said to Walt that it was all thanks to Keith choosing her as his lab partner.

Keith's funeral would take place the week before graduation. It would be a celebration of his life, no tears were allowed.

As the casket was being lowered into the ground Natalie smiled remembering all the odd memories they had together. "The Bowling Scene" flashed by her eyes. She remembered how Keith smelled that night, like gasoline and mints. The Tic Tacs that Keith poured into her hand, telling her to put one in her mouth if the cops came. Natalie remembered hitting him and saying that it wasn't funny. A tear slipped from one of her crystal blue eyes, she quickly wiped it away knowing that Keith wouldn't want her to be sad. He'd want her to be smiling and laughing.

Natalie and Henry were at the front, standing side by side, while the minister talked about Keith as if he had personally been acquainted with him. Not many people were there. The only person Natalie recognized was Alan, Keith's therapist, or Al as Keith used to address him. She assumed the rest must have been family members that Keith had never mentioned before, although she didn't expect him to tell her every detail of his life to be perfectly honest.

Once the funeral service was finished, everyone went back to Keith's home. People came up to Natalie and asked her how Keith and she had known each other. She laughed and said they were partners, lab partners. The people just gave her a friendly smile, not knowing that there was a slight hidden meaning to it. They were obviously more than lab partners. Keith and Natalie had been great friends, and more. She met nearly everyone in his family that day and by the end she had a sense of what kind of family Keith came from: a very loving one.

Now it was the night of Keith's funeral and his family had left long ago. But Natalie was still there, not wanting to go home. She wanted to hang onto her memories of Keith for just a bit longer, no matter how painful they were.

It was then that she decided to venture into his room. The last time she had been there was the night before Keith's death.

* * *

They were fixing a part for his yellow truck, she couldn't remember the name of it but she reckoned it was important, like all car parts. When Keith suddenly collapsed without warning and Natalie didn't dare move him, in case it made matters worse. Despite the panic rising in her chest, she managed to whip out her cell phone and dial 911. When the operator answered, panic had consumed her and she nearly began to hyperventilate as she told the operator to send an ambulance as quickly as possible.

The paramedics arrived within ten minutes. Ten minutes that could have been better used. They placed Keith on a gurney and into the ambulance. Natalie went with him, the van jolting up and down as her heart rate accelerated. When they arrived at the hospital it was like something out of the movies.

Keith was lying unconscious on the gurney as the paramedics rushed him into the ER. Natalie was running right beside him until doctors swarmed around him and began taking his stats. Then, the doors to an OR swung open, blasting everyone with a rush of cold air. As Keith disappeared inside, Natalie made to follow him but a nurse pulled her aside and explained the situation to her.

Keith had to go for surgery. Something had gone wrong in his brain where the cancer was, and he was internally bleeding. The surgeons had to drain the excess blood. Within this time, once she had calmed down, Natalie called Henry to tell him that Keith had been rushed to hospital. Henry arrived in fifteen minutes in a complete state of panic, wanting to know if his son was all right. He found Natalie sitting in the emergency room shaking, her eyes puffy and wet with tear stained cheeks. Wracked with worry for Keith, Natalie paced up and down the row of chairs where Henry sat with his head in hands.

"Dammit, Keith," Natalie said angrily under her breath. "Why the hell didn't you tell me you had cancer earlier? _Why_?"

But she knew why. In fact, she could almost hear Keith's reply to that question when he had told her himself.

"_Everybody bites it sooner or later. I'm just in the AP class ahead of the game. And hey! At least it wasn't all about sympathy for the sick kid." _

Unsuccessfully trying to suppress a soft sob at this memory, Natalie felt two strong arms wrap around her and hold her tightly against their chest. She looked up as fresh tears sprang from her eyes into the face of Keith's father.

"He'll be all right, don't worry Natalie." He reassured her with a small smile.

Boy had he been wrong.

* * *

As Natalie swung open Keith's bedroom door his intoxicating smell filled her nostrils: gasoline and mints. She felt at home whenever that smell filled her and she smiled with happiness as she made her way over to his bed. It was still unmade from the last time he had slept in it, its dark blue covers pulled back and scrunched up. His black and white electric guitar was lying at the end of it, looking dejected and lonely. Natalie ran her fingers over the strings, and remembered when she came over to Keith's real house for the first time with a pair of fluffy dice wrapped in pink paper. It wasn't the only first thing that she had done that night. That night was her first time having sex. She could replay that moment in her mind for eternity.

She hid in the back of the yellow truck after she had been at his house, Keith drove up to their spot, which was across from The Brick, stopped the truck and got out. He had thought Natalie was there with Raff that night, but he was wrong. Natalie hopped out of the back, and made her way towards Keith, the sound of gravel crunching underneath her shoes, she stopped a meter behind him and spoke,

"I don't care where you're gonna be next year, I don't care if you're crazy, god. I just know I wanna be with you, I don't understand what your doing, it seems so pointless, I mean everything seems so pointless but when I'm with you its different, and i don't know why." Her voice cracked, and her blue eyes began to tear up. What she didn't realize was that Keith was also starting to well up. She had no idea how much he longed for her, to show her how much he loved her. He just never made a move before because he knew he was dying and he didn't want to leave her behind hurt. It had all started out as a bit of fun at first, but falling for her was not part of the plan.

And he couldn't resist her anymore; he whipped around and embraced her in a passionate kiss. Then, one thing led to another and they ended up in the bed of Keith's yellow truck. His strong arms on either side of her, and well built form above. Who could resist such a being? Natalie certainly couldn't. She loved him, she loved him whole heartedly. Natalie never wanted to let go of this moment.

She remembered how he had hurt her that same night, obviously wanting to distant himself because he knew he would be dead soon. Natalie understood this now, she understood how he had just wanted to protect her from the future and not hurt her.

Natalie sat on his bed and grabbed his pillow. She snuggled up into it, inhaling his scent. How she missed the smell. Sure she could smell it right now in his room, but it smelt so much better on the actual boy she loved. It had smelled warmer and more concrete then but now it was just a cold memory she could only hold onto for a few more months before the smell of Keith and thus his memory would be washed away forever.

As she kicked off her black heels and slid into his bed, she began to feel extremely tired from all of the day's events. So Natalie curled up in Keith's bed and slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

**Author's Note: I hope you liked my changes and please review! I really want to you what you think!**


	2. The Test

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 2 and a big thank you to everyone who reviewed (especially to SamanthaRileyFox who was so pleased with the first chapter, which made me SO happy!) I'm glad to see that people are excited about this story! **

**Again, the idea for this story belongs solely to SamanthaRileyFox along with this chapter. As before I have, with her permission, changed a few things to make it flow nicer but all belongs to her. **

**Enjoy the chapter and please review!**

Chapter 2

The Test

The sun was shining brightly through a crack in Keith's blue curtains, so brightly that dust particles were floating about as Natalie observed them through her cracked eyelids, while trying to remember why she was not asleep in her bed at home. Then, recognition dawned on her and memories of Keith's death and funeral flowed rapidly back to her. She hoped that Henry wouldn't mind that she had fallen asleep in Keith's bed. She liked waking up in a friendly environment which made her feel at ease. Natalie buried her face in his pillow and took a deep breath of the all too familiar scent. If she could bottle the scent she would, she would spray it everywhere, just so she could have that constant happy memory follow her where ever she went.

At that thought her stomach lurched uncomfortably. Natalie had been like this for just over a month now. She sprung out of bed, raced to the bathroom and threw up, making it to the toilet just in time. She vomited once more before Henry Zetterstrom came in. It was lucky that Natalie was still huddled over the toilet because he had a small, knowing smile on his face as he pulled back Natalie's hair from her face. He knew she wouldn't appreciate puking in her own hair. Henry laughed softly as he remembered doing this for his own wife, Keith's mother. She would dart about every so often to make sure she made it to a bathroom. Yes, Henry Zetterstrom knew all too well what was wrong with Natalie. He was surprised a smart girl like herself had not caught on yet.

The only thing that Natalie was that she was a few months late. But she had put it down to stress. Brooke sometimes skipped a few months a year, it was natural for her, but to be honest Natalie had never skipped before. The fact the she was being sick right now as well made her worry even more. She couldn't _possibly_ be pregnant, although she couldn't actually remember if Keith and her had used them that night. It wasn't the only time they had had sex before though, but she was sure she wore a condom the other times she had decided to have a tumble with him.

Confident that she was done throwing up for the morning, Natalie leaned back against the bathtub, taking a few shuddering breaths. Henry saw the realization of her situation etched across her face and he chuckled.

"Looks like you need to make a trip to the drugstore," he said softly.

Natalie merely nodded mutely. She would indeed be purchasing a pregnancy test as soon as she left the Zetterstrom household. She couldn't be pregnant; she was careful or as careful as someone could be with sex. It all added together though: missed period, morning sickness and how tired she seemed to be all the time. How she wished, now more than ever that Keith was around. He'd be able to tell her what to do, even if it was cryptic. Another wave of sickness hit her (she had obviously been wrong about earlier) and the putrid smell of hydrochloric acid and partly digested food entered her nostrils. The sweet smell of gasoline and mints were a distant memory of earlier this morning now.

When she was done, Henry handed her a damp washcloth to wipe her face and some water to rinse out her mouth. When she was finished, he helped her to her feet whereupon she went back into Keith's room to change into the T-shirt and jeans that she had brought with her. She hadn't wanted to go straight home after the funeral, knowing what a mess she would be and wanted some time to get back to reality.

Ten minutes later, she walked out into the living room where she found that Henry had already cleared the house from yesterday's events; there was no evidence that a wake had taken place. Natalie felt bad; she had wanted to help him clear up the mess. But there was no need now, the house was as spotless as it could get.

Natalie bid goodbye to Keith's father as she clambered into the yellow pick up. Henry had decided it'd be in better use in her hands. It would just sit in the drive way if he was to keep a hold of it.

Natalie made her way down to the drug store, the same one where she met Al and had found out about Billy's death and Keith's cancer. She had never felt so sick as she had that day…until recently that is.

The bell above the door rang as she entered the shop, and she saw the exact place where her and Al had stood that day. Natalie shook her head. She wasn't here to remember that fateful day but to live in the present.

The pregnancy tests were in the third isle along with condoms and painkillers. Natalie didn't know what she was going to do, she was well known in this small little town. Everyone knew everyone and she was buying a pregnancy test. God only knew what rumors would begin. She didn't even know for certain that she was pregnant and just the fact that she was buying a test to find out made her stomach churn.

Natalie picked up the packet that had three tests in it. Repeat experiment, better reliability. Twenty dollars for a few sticks which she urinated on and somehow that told her that she was going to have a baby; it was ridiculous! Holding the box at her side so no one would notice it as much, she walked quickly up to the line in front of the register. She just wanted this over and done with; she didn't want people to start talking.

Oh god, Al was standing in line in the exact same place as that day. She silently walked up behind him and stood there, ducking her head and covering her face with her long blonde locks.

_Please don't let him notice me. Please don't let him notice me_. She thought frantically.

"Natalie, is that you?"

_Oh shit!_

She plastered on a fake smile that never quite reached her eyes, and looked up at Al. Except it wasn't Al that called out to her, although he was looking at her, no, it was much worse.

It was her ex-boyfriend, Raff. Was everyone she knew in this drug store? She thought to herself. This couldn't possibly be the only one in town. She moved her gaze from Al to Raff, then accidentally to the pregnancy test. Al's and Raff's gaze followed her eyes. Raff's mouth fell open at the sight of it, and Al had a quizzical look on his face. She couldn't use the excuse of Brooke thinking she was pregnant again, Raff knew they weren't good friends anymore. She had to think fast.

"Oh," Natalie's mouth formed a perfect "O" shape. "Um, t-this is for a friend from tennis p-practice." _Yeah, that sounds good enough_ she thought to herself. Raff seemed to believe her, but Al, being a therapist, didn't believe her at all.

Thankfully, she was spared from any further questions from him as the line began to move forward and both Al and Raff paid for their items and left. When it was Natalie's turn, she shakily handed over the box, but the cashier said nothing about it as he scanned it.

She was only able to breathe normally again when she was behind the wheel of Keith's truck as she drove back to his house. She didn't dare go home to take the test, not until she knew for sure. If it was negative, she could go home and everything would return to normal. If was positive, well then things would get very interesting.

**Author's Note: Sorry if that seemed really short! The next chapter is longer, I swear! Please review!**


	3. The Truth

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 3 which is the first chapter that is written by me with no guidance from SamanthaRileyFox. **

**I'm sorry to say that this is going to be the last update for a few days as I'm going on vacation in Wisconsin where there is no internet. But I will have time to work on this story while I'm there so don't worry! **

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter and please review!**

Chapter 3

The Truth

Natalie didn't even have to knock when she got back to Keith's. The door opened the moment she reached it and Henry stood before her with a small smile on his lips.

"I figured you would come back here once you went to the store," he said as he ushered her inside.

"I—I just need to know for sure before I go home," Natalie told him. "But I think my mom would think the worst if she saw me come home with a box of pregnancy tests."

Henry quirked an eyebrow. "You think being pregnant is the worst that could happen?"

"Henry, I'm seventeen!" she cried. "I'm going to Duke in August! I can't be---!" but she stopped when she saw the look on his face.

"Having to bury your child because of something you can't fix is the worst thing that can happen," Henry whispered. "And to think that a part of my child could live on on this earth and be happy and healthy is, I think the _best_ thing that could happen." Then, he laid a hand on Natalie's shoulder and added, "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." Natalie couldn't help but stare after him as he brushed past her before she turned and made her way into the bathroom.

Surprisingly, it only took her one go at taking the test before she had the result. The three minutes of waiting however, were the longest six minutes of her life and when they were up, she still couldn't look at it.

So she decided she wouldn't.

"Henry!" she called out, poking her head around the corner of the door. When he arrived, she promptly handed him the test, saying. "I can't look, I just can't."

He took the stick from her and held it up to his face while Natalie waited with bated breath, clutching the doorframe in her anxiety.

The seconds ticked by until Henry finally spoke. "Well, it looks like the best things in life _do_ come in small packages." And he flipped the test around so that Natalie could clearly see the large white plus sign staring back at her.

Natalie didn't move. She just stared at the plus sign, almost willing it morph into a minus sign. But she knew it wouldn't, because it was telling the truth and the truth scared the hell out of her.

She vaguely felt Henry grasp one of her hands and lead her into the living room where he made her sit down on the couch. She stayed exactly where she was as he went into the kitchen again to throw away the test. When he returned he sat down next to her.

"Keith told me that you two had had sex," he said after a moment's silence. "It was during one of his trips to the hospital. He said that even though it was unprotected and that it was wrong, it was one of the best and happiest times of his life. He said it was then that he realized how much he loved you." Natalie looked at him as he spoke but said nothing as Henry looked her straight in the eye and added sincerely. "I'm sure you already know this but Natalie, my son loved you with all his heart. He loved you so much that he didn't want to because it would make his death all the more painful for the both of you."

"I know, he tried break it off before we got too close but it was too late. I was going to stay with him until he had to leave and I did. But did he ever think something like this would happen?" Natalie asked, her voice cracking a little.

Henry said nothing in reply and Natalie buried her face in her hands and asked a new question. "What the hell I am going to do? My parents are going to kill me!"

"It's your choice what you do," said Henry, "but I do want you to know that I will help you in any way that I can. After raising one child and then having to watch him die tore my heart out but today, you've made me the happiest I've been in a long time, Natalie."

She looked up at his sincere words. "Really?"

"Yes. Now, I don't want my thoughts to pressure you into having it, it's your child and it's your choice what to do about it."

Natalie nodded mutely as she bit her lip to keep from crying. Why did Keith have to die so soon? Why couldn't he have stayed long enough to tell her what to do?

"I—I need to think," she said softly as she got shakily to her feet. "I—I'll be in Keith's room." She didn't even wait for a reply before she left the room and walked into Keith's room. The moment she shut the door behind her, she collapsed onto his bed and hugged his pillow, breathing in the familiar and calming scent. As the smell filling her nostrils, she began to cry, the sound muffled by the pillow. She cried for Keith who had left her too soon and for her own unknown and terrifying future as a potential teenage mother. She cried for so long and so hard that she eventually fell asleep like she had the night before.

Except this time, she began to dream.

* * *

"_Natalie, Natalie, wake up!" someone was tapping her on the shoulder. She mumbled something incoherent and hugged Keith's pillow tighter to her chest. _

"_Get up, partner, we gotta talk," the voice commended._

_Her eyes flew open then and she sat bolt right up on Keith's bed to find none other than Keith standing next her._

"_Keith!" she cried and before she could do anything he had pulled her to her feet and hugged her against his chest._

"_Hey, partner," he replied. _

"_Keith, what are you doing here? You're…dead," said Natalie once they broke their embrace._

"_No, I'm not, partner, I'm right here," and he tapped the area above her heart. "I'm there whenever you need me and it looks like you need me right now as it seems we've made ourselves a little peanut!" He flashed her boyish grin when he finished._

"_Yeah, apparently we have," said Natalie. "Oh, god, Keith what should I do?"_

"_I think you already know what to do, Natalie," said Keith seriously as he brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I never thought I'd be a dad or even live past seventeen but now that one of those things has come true, I couldn't be happier." Then he kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "I love both of you so much."_

_Feeling tears well up in her eyes, she closed them tightly before she hugged him so hard that he seemed to become soft and flexible. _Wondering how this could happen, she opened her eyes again and found herself lying on Keith's bed, hugging his pillow and completely alone.

**Author's Note: Didn't expect Keith to appear, did you? Hehehe. Well let me know what you think about that, if it seemed realistic or not because if you do I'll have Natalie have more dreams of Keith as the story goes on. It was the only thing that I could think of that would keep Keith involved in the story. Also, I hope you liked Henry's reaction. I wanted someone to be on Natalie's side since her parents aren't going to be too thrilled with her.**

**Anyway, please review! I really do appreciate them!**


	4. Telling the Truth

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 4 and I'm sorry for the delay but as I said earlier, I was on vacation in Wisconsin. But I appreciate all of the reviews you guys sent me and I'm glad you liked the dream/vision part with Keith so much! I was worried that people would think it was the like the Denny visions/hallucinations in **_**Grey's Anatomy**_** and I can assure that Natalie is NOT having hallucinations.**

**Anyway, here is the chapter where Natalie's parents hear the news. Enjoy and please review.**

Chapter 4

Telling the Truth

Natalie sat at the end of Keith's bed, chin in her hands and pondered the dream she had just had. It was so _real_. She had felt as if Keith really was in the room with her, even though she knew all too well that he was dead and buried.

She didn't really believe in the supernatural or "having contact" with the dead but considering the situation that she now found herself in, she couldn't help but feel that the dream she had just had was Keith's way of telling her what to do even though he couldn't be with her physically.

She knew that once she told her parents, they would tell her to give it up for adoption or even have an abortion. Natalie couldn't do either of those things. Either way would seem like she was furthering distancing herself from Keith, which she definitely did not want to do. No, whether she was really pregnant or not (one test didn't necessarily mean she was but it was a pretty good chance) she would keep the child once it was born.

Sighing heavily, she got up and walked out of Keith's room where she found Henry in the living room, still on the couch. He looked up when she entered and asked. "So, what's the plan?"

"I think I'd better get home and um, break the news to my parents," she answered.

"Would you like me to come with you?"

"No, well, actually, I was thinking I could call you once the shock wears off and then we could all discuss, um…"

"What to do?" Henry supplied.

"Yeah, basically."

"Sounds like a good plan, then. I'll be here," he replied nonchalantly.

Natalie smiled at his calmness. "Okay, see you in a bit then." She grabbed her purse and slipped the two remaining pregnancy tests inside it. Then she retrieved her small backpack that held her dress and heels. She was at the door when Henry said, "Natalie?"

She looked back at him. "Yeah?"

"Good luck."

She smiled. "Thanks."

* * *

Like what had happened when she arrived back at Keith's from the drugstore, when she got back to her own house, she didn't even have to get her keys out when her mother threw open the door.

"Natalie!" she cried when she saw her and promptly threw her arms around her. "Oh, honey, how are you doing? I wanted to call but I figured you'd need some time. How was the service?"

"It was fine," said Natalie once her mom had released her. "It was short and simple, just like he would've wanted it."

Her mom smiled. "Good."

Even though Natalie had told her family about her relationship with Keith, she had told them not to come to the funeral because she knew that Keith wouldn't have wanted a big crowd of people crying over him. Like he had done with his cancer, he didn't want his death from it to draw a lot of attention and have people act differently around him. As such, only those closest to him like his family, Natalie and Al had attended.

Her mom turned and led the way into the house and Natalie followed. When they were inside, Caroline asked, "Are you doing okay, Nat? Do you want to talk about anything?"

Natalie hesitated. "No, I'm fine, just a little tired, I guess. I'll be up in my room."

Caroline nodded in understanding. "Okay, hun, take your time."

"Thanks, Mom," she said as she climbed the stairs to her room. Once there, she closed the door and instantly collapsed onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow which smelled absolutely nothing like Keith.

How the hell was she going to tell her parents without having them freak out? She knew it was inevitable anyway, but she wanted to avoid as little drama as possible. She knew that they would be upset and disappointed but Natalie knew that her own teenage pregnancy was different from others. First of all, she loved Keith and he loved her and she knew that if he were alive that he would support her and help her in any way that he could, like his own father had said he would.

She knew her chances of going to Duke were shot now. But to be quite honest, after she met and eventually fell in love with Keith, going to a prestigious college didn't seem all that important any more. Then, and especially now, she would be quite content with going to a state school. She knew her parents wouldn't be too happy about it but really what other choice did she have? Because she certainly was _not_ going to give something away that was a part of Keith.

Sighing heavily, she pushed herself up and pulled out the two remaining tests from her purse. After hiding them under her pillow, she went downstairs again and into the kitchen which was, to her relief, empty. Nevertheless, she ran to the fridge, snatched a bottle of water and bolted back up to her room. There, she downed the entire bottle in under five minutes and once she had caught her breath a little, she retrieved the tests from under her pillow and went into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, she had the results.

They were both the same as the first one: positive.

* * *

Natalie didn't speak at during dinner that night. Her mind was whirling with possible ways to break the news to her parents. She knew she should just have to come out and say it since it was the easiest thing to do and really there was no other way that she could think of without beating around the bush.

She had just cleared her throat to begin when her dad asked, "Are you okay, Natalie? You're really quiet tonight."

"Peter, don't pester her, she just got back from Keith's funeral today," Caroline answered instantly.

"I know that, I was just making sure she was okay!" Pete snapped back.

"Guys!" Natalie said loudly. "There's no need to fight, really. I'm fine, I—I just have a lot on my mind."

"Of course you do, sweetheart," said her mom gently, laying her hand on Natalie's arm. "Losing someone you love like that…it's hard to not think about them. It's all part of the grieving process."

"It—It's not just about Keith, Mom," said Natalie slowly. "It's just---" she paused and took a deep breath yet she could still feel her heart thumping nervously in her chest. "It's just that I—I, er, I'm pre—pregnant."

Caroline pulled her hand away from Natalie's arm as if it burned her. "What did you say, young lady?" she demanded fiercely.

"I—I'm pregnant, Mom," Natalie repeated shakily. She glanced at the other members of her family: her dad, Zach and Cynthia all had equal looks of shock on their faces; Zach's mouth had actually fallen open.

"Natalie, are you sure?" Pete asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm pretty damn sure," said Natalie. "I've skipped a few months, I've had morning sickness for the past month and I just took three tests today." She would've gone on had her mother not held up her hand to silence her. Then, she turned on Natalie's stunned siblings and ordered. "You two. Up to your rooms. _Now_."

Much to Natalie's surprise, they stood up and went without a word, although this was probably due to the fact that she was looking daggers at them.

When they were gone, Caroline stood up and began collecting the empty plates and putting them in the sink. Pete glanced coolly at Natalie before following his wife's example and helping her clean up, leaving a teary-eyed Natalie alone at the table.

Finally when the tense silence became unbearable, Natalie said in a voice just above a whisper. "Please say something."

"Who's the father, Natalie," Caroline demanded loudly as she whirled around to face her. "Please tell that it's Raphael. Please tell me that you're going to have someone, besides your father and I to help you through this."

But Natalie knew that her mother knew exactly who the father was but she told her anyway. "It's Keith, Mom. I never had sex with Raff. We—we were waiting, actually."

"Yet you couldn't _wait_ to have sex with Keith, could you?!"

"No! Mom, it's not like that at all! It was different with Keith. I—I didn't feel like I had to act a certain way or do something to make me look good, I—I could just be myself around him. And, well this is gonna sound really corny but he made me see the world differently and not because he was dying or anything just because he was himself and didn't give a crap about what anyone else thought about him." When she finished, she was close to tears as she realized the impact that he had had on her life. "And—and that's what made me fall in love with him, Mom and even though he was acting so weird and crazy, I didn't care about any of it. So this one night, I told him that and that I just wanted to—to be with him and then he must have re—realized that he lov—loved me too and then he kissed me and I kissed him and that led to one thing and---"

"And you had sex, did even not stop to _think_ about using protection and now you have to deal with being a mother at seventeen!" Caroline interrupted. She glared at her daughter so fiercely that Natalie's vision grew watery from the threat of unshed tears. No doubt seeing her face, Pete said gently, "Honey, I think you're overacting just a little bit here---"

"Peter! Our daughter is _pregnant_!"

"Yes, I'm aware of that but Natalie's a smart girl and look at her!" he turned his wife so that she could clearly see Natalie's scrunched face which was turning a bright pink from the effort of not bursting into tears. "She's fully aware of her situation and yes it was wrong of them not to think of using protection but she doesn't need you yelling at her, especially since Keith is…er can't be with her." He paused to let his words sink in for the two of the three female members of his family before he asked. "Now, Natalie, does Mr. Zetterstrom know about this?"

She nodded as she wiped at her eyes. "Yeah, he does and um, if it's okay with you guys, I'm going to call him and have him come over to—to um, talk about what to do."

Pete smiled and said, "I think that is an excellent idea."

**Author's Note: Well, there you go! Natalie finally told her parents, now what will they have to say when Henry comes over? You'll have to wait to find out! But in the meantime, please review!**


	5. Options and Decisions

**Author's Note: Here's the part two of the 'telling the truth' sequence (as I've decided to call it) which features the meeting with Henry. I'm glad you guys liked her parents' reactions because I certainly have never had to experience telling my parents that and won't until I'm happily married! Oh, and I know that Pete seemed kinda gruff in the movie and I chose to make him the 'rational' one in that chapter because I knew Caroline would probably have a conniption over the news, as you already read. Anyway, here is chapter 5 and as always, please review!**

Chapter 5

Options and Decisions

Henry arrived ten minutes later and when he and Natalie entered the kitchen, Natalie's parents had not moved from the table so Natalie, feeling very uncomfortable said, "Um…Mom, Dad this is Henry Zetterstrom, Keith's dad."

Her parents stood up and introduced themselves, and then promptly sat back down so Natalie led him to the two remaining chairs across from them.

When everyone was seated, an awkward silence fell on them until Caroline cleared her throat softly and said, "Mr. Zetterstrom, Natalie has told us that you already know of her…situation."

"Yes, I do," Henry replied "and I told her that I would support her in any decision that she decides to make regarding her and my son's child."

"That's very gracious of you, Mr. Zetterstrom," said Caroline, "and that's exactly why we're having this meeting…to decide what to do with this situation that Natalie finds herself in."

"Mom, will you _stop_ talking about me like I'm not here!" Natalie said, much louder than she had wanted to. "Do you want to hear what I want to do about it?"

"Yes, Natalie, what _do_ you want to do about it?"

"I want to keep it," Natalie replied firmly.

"_Keep it_?! But, honey, you can't---!"

"You don't get it, do you?!" Natalie practically yelled her. "This baby is half of me and half of Keith and that's more than I have of him right now, which is nothing. Besides if I have it and give it up for adoption or—or have an abortion, it'll feel like I'm losing him all over again. But if I keep it, it'll be like he's still here with me. And, Henry told me this earlier; it can live on for Keith and be happy and healthy for him."

Silence followed her explanation and to Natalie's surprise her mother's face softened and she said gently. "Natalie, I understand your feelings for wanting to keep it, I really do. But I don't want you to keep it just because you think it will replace him."

"It won't replace him, Mom, because nothing can or will replace Keith," she assured her. "Besides, I—I just feel that this is the right thing to do."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head to see Henry looking at her with a small smile on his lips and while Caroline turned to her husband, he mouthed, "Thank you."

"Pete, what do you think about all of this?" Caroline asked.

"Well, I certainly agree with you in that it was very irresponsible of both Natalie and Keith to have unprotected sex…"

_Please, can we not turn this into a damn Health lecture?_ Natalie thought to herself. She was so sick of hearing about how she was suddenly so "irresponsible" for not using a damn condom. She was glad that Henry understood that it wasn't just a one night stand and that she and Keith loved each other, but apparently her parents couldn't get passed the condom detail.

She focused herself back to the present as her dad continued, "yet I don't want to force Natalie into doing something that she doesn't want to do,_ but_ I do think we should consider all of the options."

"There is _no_ option, Dad!" Natalie cried. "I'm going to have it and I'm going to keep it!"

"Natalie, what are you going to do with a baby when you have to go to Duke?" her mother asked, just as loudly.

Surprising even herself, Natalie rounded on her. "Mom! Have you been listening to _anything_ that I've said about Keith? He _changed_ me! He made me realize that the future isn't really what's always important, it's what you do in the present. And I need to do that, especially now. Duke is gonna have to wait, Mom and maybe I don't want go to Duke and play tennis for six hours because I sure as hell can't now!" She stopped suddenly, realizing that she had been shouting and took a few calming breaths before she said quietly. "I—I'm sorry I shouted like that, I guess I'm just to trying to get you guys to understand….I'm, um, I'm going to go lie down for a bit." Then, without waiting for a reply, she got from the table and nearly ran out of the room and up the stairs to her room.

* * *

She was glad that Zach and Cynthia were not waiting for her on the landing, wanting to ask questions because she knew that she couldn't have answered as she was in tears by the time she made it to her room. Once her door was firmly shut and locked behind her, she collapsed onto her bed and sobbed into her pillow. She knew her parents were disappointed in her, even though they didn't come out and say it, she could hear it in their words and see it in their eyes. But why couldn't they understand where she was coming from? Perhaps she should've told them about Keith long before he had taken a turn for the worse, when he was still healthy and himself. She began to cry even harder when she thought of his finals days when it seemed like, for awhile that he didn't even recognize her….

"_Of course, I recognized you, partner," said a voice gently._

_Natalie leapt out of bed, both startled and excited to hear the voice that she knew all too well. _

_He was straddling the back of her desk chair with his arms folded across the top. His green eyes stared calmly and affectionately back at her as she got over her shock and sat cross-legged on her bed._

"_Keith, you're—you're back," Natalie whispered._

"_Why wouldn't I come back, partner? We're partners and you need me," he replied with a small smile._

_Natalie smiled too but more at the irony of his answer. They had become so much more than lab partners and the nickname was certainly a unique one….much like Keith and her relationship with him. _

_She lowered her head then, knowing that how she was seeing him now, so healthy and alive was just a figment of her imagination, a part of her brain that conjured him for her because she missed him so much. She knew she was only dreaming of him._

_Yet, despite this, she gasped softly when she felt his strong, comforting arms wrap around her and pull her into his lap. _

"_What's wrong, partner?" he asked in a whisper, sounding concerned._

"_Keith, I'm—I'm so scared," she whispered back, feeling tears begin to form again. "I don't wanna raise a baby….our baby by myself." _

"_But you're not gonna be by yourself, partner," he replied as he ran his fingers through her hair comfortingly. "As you already know, my dad's a pretty cool guy and your parents will come around eventually and you've got me, whenever you need me." He paused and then added, "You and Peanut will be fine, you'll see."_

_Natalie glared up at him in mock anger. "Peanut? That's what you've decided to name it?"_

"_Well, considering that it's about the size_ of_ a peanut right now, I don't think we have any other choices," Keith replied smoothly, "unless you prefer Sea Monkey or Pinhead."_

_Natalie laughed softly. "No, Peanut's fine."_

"_Good, because peanuts are pretty tasty and they make peanut butter which then makes a mean PB and J or PB and B sandwich."_

"_PB and B?"_

"_That's peanut butter and banana, pumpkin love."_

_Natalie smiled, both at the new endearment and how nonchalant he was. It was amazing how Keith could make her feel better in such a short amount of time and she turned over to look into his face. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead before he said seriously. "I gotta go, partner but before I do, I just wanna say that you were so brave to stand up to your parents like that and I think, no I _know_ that you made the right decision." He stopped then and Natalie saw him blink rapidly as if to dispel unshed tears. Then he took a deep breath and looked straight into her eyes as he continued in a whisper. "I know it's gonna be hard and I wish I could be, well more than I am now to help you but you're gonna be a great mom, Natalie." Then, he kissed her lightly on the lips and laid her down on her bed once more. Natalie smiled as he gazed lovingly down at her and that contented smile stayed on her lips as she closed her eyes._

But soon as she opened them, her smile vanished when she saw that, as she expected and dreaded, Keith was gone.

**Author's Note: So there's another Keith dream for you! They won't occur in all the chapters but be assured that Keith will be involved in Natalie's pregnancy as much as he can be. Let me know what you think and please review!**


	6. Prenatal Exam

**Author's Note: Hello again! First off a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm so happy to see that so many people are interested in this despite the fact that I have NO experience whatsoever in this subject. Even though this chapter is called Prenatal Exam, there is a lot of stuff that happens before that and I really want comments on all of it, but no pressure though! I DO hope you enjoy the chapter and please review!**

Chapter 6

Prenatal Exam

After Natalie had gotten over the shock of yet another real-yet-not-real dream of Keith, she felt very refreshed and ready to face her parents again. So, she went downstairs and found that they and Henry were still sitting around the table, talking.

"Hi," she said as she took her seat next to Henry. "Sorry, I—I fell asleep and lost track of time. Have I missed anything?"

To her surprise, her mom smiled. "Honey, you were only gone for half an hour and no, you haven't missed anything. We've just been talking to Mr. Zetter, er Henry a bit more and we've come to a decision."

"Yeah?" asked Natalie, perking up instantly.

"We've decided that you may have the baby but we will decide whether to keep it or not at a later time," her mom said.

"Really?!" cried Natalie. "Oh, Mom, thank you!" She got to her feet and threw her arms around her neck. When she released her, Natalie added excitedly, "I promise everything will work out with college and I'll go and get a degree and not be one of those teenage mothers who only has a high school education. I promise you, really."

Caroline smiled. "I know everything will work itself out eventually. But, it's like you said, Nat, we have to focus on the present for now."

Natalie smiled too and that happy smile remained on her face as she gave each of her parents a hug and then asked Henry to come outside with her.

It was a cool evening for summer, but very pleasant as they stood under the glow of the outside light.

"So, how do you feel about all of this? You're going to be a grandpa!" Natalie said once they were outside.

Henry merely shook his head and said softly. "I think you already know the answer to that, but I'll tell you again. This is the happiest I've been in a very long time, Natalie. I don't think I've been this happy since Keith was born."

Natalie nodded to show she understood perfectly and then asked seriously. "Do you think he would be…happy?" Even though Keith had told her via her subconscious that he couldn't be happier at the prospect of being a dad, Natalie wanted to hear his own father's thoughts.

"I think he would be absolutely ecstatic, Natalie," Henry replied with a small smile. "Just as I was when my wife told me. It was a very exciting and long overdue moment for us."

"What do you mean?"

"My wife, Sandra* had a hard time getting pregnant and when she did, she…she lost the baby in the second month," Henry replied, blinking furiously.

Natalie's mouth actually fell open in shock. "Oh, my god, Henry! I'm so sorry! Oh, god that must have been horrible!"

"It was," Henry admitted, "and we were scared to try again but our doctor assured us that the miscarriage shouldn't be a reason for us not to have children. Sandra was young and healthy and once we were able to move on, we tried again and well, you know the rest." He finished with a small smile.

"How did you choose the name Keith?" Natalie asked curiously.

"We wanted a simple yet unique name for him," Henry answered. "Sandra wanted to name him Henry but I said that it was too old fashioned, so as a compromise, Henry became his middle name."

"Keith Henry Zetterstrom," Natalie said aloud. "I like it."

"I'm glad. Now you just have to think of one that you like just as much!"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I think it's a bit early to start talking about names, Henry."

"True but it's pretty important, you know." Then, he took her hand and said seriously. "I'm going to head home now, but you call me if you need _anything_, all right?"

Natalie couldn't help but smile. "Okay, Henry but I have everything under control right now but I'll call you each time I puke or have any other symptoms, okay?" she added teasingly.

That made him laugh. "Sounds like a plan, Natalie." Then without warning, he hugged her and before Natalie could even make sense of what was happening, he released her and with a final goodbye walked to his car, got in and drove home.

* * *

Later that night, Natalie was in her room, just lying on her bed when a knock came at her door.

"It's open!" she called out, not wanting to get up. But she ended up sitting up anyway when both Zach and Cynthia poked their heads into her room.

"Hey, Nat, can we talk?" Zach asked somewhat nervously.

"Sure, come on in." They both relaxed at her light tone and joined her on her bed. Once her bedroom door was closed, Cynthia blurted out. "Are you really gonna be a mom, Natalie?"

"You guys were listening at the top of the stairs, weren't you?" Natalie accused instantly.

"Of course we were!" Zach said with a smirk. "We wouldn't be good siblings if we didn't! So, you've got a bun in the oven, eh?"

"Yes, Zach and thank you for putting so casually," said Natalie sarcastically.

"No problem, Nat."

"So, does this mean I'm gonna be an aunt?" Cynthia asked, eyes growing wide and when Natalie nodded, she squealed in delight and threw her arms around her neck. "Oh, wow, I'm gonna be an aunt! I bet I'm gonna be the only one in my class who can say they have a little niece!"

"Niece?" Natalie questioned when Cynthia released her. "It could be a boy, you know."

"Yeah, but I know it's gonna be a girl because you love me more than Zach and you know he's gonna want to it to be a boy whose mean and stupid like him," Cynthia replied with complete confidence and that confidence caused Natalie to burst out laughing. When she had calmed down a bit, she hugged her little sister. "Oh, gosh Cynthia, I love you."

"Love you too, Natalie," Cynthia replied. When they broke out of their embrace, she got up from Natalie's bed and walked to her door. But when she reached it, she stopped, turned around and said thoughtfully, "But, I guess if it_ were_ a boy and it was like Keith, then that wouldn't be so bad."

"And why not?" Natalie wondered aloud.

'Cause Keith was nice and funny and he had a cool truck!" Cynthia answered happily. "Now, Natalie, you get a good night's sleep while I go Google what makes a good aunt!" she added sternly.

"Yes, Mom," said Natalie in mock obedience as she dutifully laid down on her bed again. She waited until her door had closed behind Cynthia before she sat up again and glanced at her brother.

"I never thought she would've liked Keith so much after only meeting him once," she commented aloud. Wanting her family to meet Keith and see how much she cared for him, she had taken them to the hospital where he had been recuperating after one of his many fainting spells. Thankfully, he had been doing well and was able to talk amicably with her family and be how she had always known him and loved him for. Yet, it was that visit that had marked Keith's downhill turn.

"Yeah, Keith was a pretty cool guy," said Zach. "I mean, not that Raff wasn't but he—and don't yell at me for saying this—but he was just so _damn_ perfect!"

"I know," Natalie said with a soft laugh, "that's why Mom and Dad liked him so much…and didn't like Keith."

"But they got to like him, once they met him," Zach reminded her. "And they realized that Keith didn't give shit about what they thought of him."

"Exactly!" said Natalie, "and I think that's partly the reason why I fell in love with him."

"I know," said Zach. "I heard the whole thing when you were trying to explain to Mom and Dad and honestly, Nat, I'm glad that you're having Keith's kid and not Raff's."

Natalie raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah, I think Raff would've been scared off at being a dad," Zach told her. "But not Keith."

"No," said Natalie softly, as she remembered her dreams. "No, he wouldn't have at all."

* * *

The next day, Caroline took Natalie to get a blood test to confirm that she actually was pregnant. After the results came back and confirmed what Natalie already knew, her doctor told her to set up an appointment with a friend of hers that happened to be an OBGYN. The minute they got home from that appointment, Caroline instantly made an appointment for Natalie's prenatal exam.

Now it was three days later, the day of the appointment and Natalie sat on the white examination table while her mom sat in a chair against the wall.

"I'm really nervous, Mom," Natalie confessed after an agonizingly long silence.

Caroline laughed softly. "Oh, Nat, there's nothing to be nervous about now. This is just an introductory checkup, where your doctor will explain everything to you about what to expect in the future. Just wait eight more months and then you can be as nervous as you want."

"Well, then I won't be nervous because I'll be in too much pain!"

"That's what epidurals are for, hun."

Before Natalie could reply, there was a soft knock at the door as the doctor entered.

The OBGYNs that Natalie had seen on TV were usually middle aged men or women, and this was the reason for nervousness. She wasn't sure how they would react to a pregnant seventeen-year-old even though she was sure that they had seen many of them before her, but she was still nervous.

Her nervousness vanished however, when the doctor that entered turned out to be a young woman in her mid thirties.

"Hello, you must be Natalie, I'm Dr. Amanda Covington," she said kindly, holding out her hand for Natalie to shake which she accepted. Dr. Covington had warm brown eyes that despite their youthfulness, showed her experience and kind nature. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she smiled warmly as her and Natalie shook hands.

"And you must be, Caroline?" Dr. Covington asked when she released Natalie's hand and turned to her mother.

"Yes," Caroline replied.

"Excellent," said Dr. Covington and to Natalie's surprise, she jumped up on the examination table next to Natalie. "Alright, Natalie, let's have a look at your chart….You are about one month along into your pregnancy and how the symptoms so far?"

"Just morning sickness right now and I'm tired a lot."

"Good, that's what's to be expected unfortunately. Trust me, I have three kids and I _know_."

"How old are they?"

"Eight, six and two."

"Wow! How do you manage taking care of them and being a doctor?"

"Well, lucky for me, my husband is a writer so he stays home with them, but he's a kid at heart so he doesn't mind at all." She paused as if expecting Natalie to mention something about her own baby's father and when she didn't, she continued. "Okay, then, so now what I'm going to do is a routine checkup just to see that you're in good shape for the coming months."

Once the very thorough checkup was complete, Dr. Covington gave Natalie a pelvic exam, which was done to check her health 'down south'. When this rather unpleasant part was over, Dr. Covington explained in great detail what to expect as far as symptoms and the many changes that would occur both inside and outside her body. Natalie had taken enough Biology and Health classes to know _exactly_ what was going on, but she listened attentively and made mental notes as she went along.

When Dr. Covington had finished her spiel, Natalie said, "Do you when the due date is?"

"Calculating from when you said you had your last period, I'd say about…February seventh or sometime around there at least," Dr. Covington replied as she consulted Natalie's chart.

"Wow," was all Natalie said in response. February seemed like such a long time away. No doubt seeing her face, Dr. Covington added, "It goes by really fast, you'll see. You have a lot of things to buy and plan between then and now!"

"I'll say," Natalie's mom muttered from where she sat against the wall.

"Well, now that we have a date to look forward to, everything else looks good!" said Dr. Covington cheerfully. "Any questions from you, Mrs. Anderson?"

Caroline shook her head. "No, I'm just having a few flashbacks from the three times I had to go through all of this."

Dr. Covington laughed. "Ah, yes, that's understandable. Well, I have a few questions for Natalie, so you could kindly go out and make an appointment for her for the next month while we have a little chat." Natalie was worried that her mom would want to stay, since she too had a few things to talk about with the kind doctor but thankfully her mother agreed and left the room.

When she was gone, Dr. Covington sat down on her swivel desk chair and looked up at Natalie. "So, I hate to ask this but it's been sort of a standard of mine to ask if the father will be involved in the pregnancy when it's a young girl like you. You don't have to answer if you don't want to," she added quickly.

Natalie bit her lip before she replied softly. "He—he would be if…if he were alive."

The doctor's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "_What_?" she gasped. "How--?"

"Cancer," said Natalie quickly. "He had cancer and he died before I even knew I was pregnant."

"Oh, gosh, honey. I'm _so_ sorry!"

"It's all right; his dad is really happy about it and supportive."

"Well, thank god for that!" Dr. Covington said with a smile.

"Do you…do you see a lot of pregnant girls my age?"

"You might call my specialty and I don't mind all, it's hard dealing with such a big responsibility when one is so young. But you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders, Natalie so you'll do great." She helped Natalie off of the table and as they walked out of the room together, she added, "Now if you have any questions about _anything_, you call me or talk to one of my nurses, they've all had kids so they know what you're going through."

"Thanks," said Natalie with a genuinely relieved grin.

"All right, Nat, I'll see you in a month then!"

"Thanks, bye!" Natalie called out as she entered the main room where her mother was waiting for her.

On the way home, Natalie couldn't stop smiling. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to be surrounded by so many caring and supportive people, she knew her parents would come around eventually but at least her mom wasn't looking daggers at her all the time.

But despite how much support she had, she really only wanted one person's support and care…and that person was Keith.

**Author's Note: * I have the DVD of the movie and at the part where Natalie sees the picture of Keith's mom, you can see that the card says Sandra Zetterstrom so that's where I got the name for his mom. **

**Oh, there is also usually a slash between the B and G in OBGYN but it was just easier for me to type it as one whole thing. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter and please review!**


	7. Confrontations

**Author's Note: Alright, here's chapter 7 which mainly focuses on Natalie telling Brooke and Raff that she is pregnant. Hope it's realistic enough and please review! **

Chapter 7

Confrontations

That night, as she got into bed, Natalie was hoping to have another dream with Keith so she could tell her about her wonderful OBGYN but unfortunately this did not happen as she woke up every four hours or so to go to the bathroom. And every time that she crawled back into bed, she had a hard time falling asleep again.

And so because of such a restful night, she ended up sleeping until nearly eleven the next morning and was only woken up when her phone rang, blasting her eardrums with its annoying peal.

Groaning and swearing under her breath, she sat up and fumbled for the phone as it continued its incessant ring. When she managed to hit the talk button, she said groggily into the phone. "Hullo?"

"Natalie?" inquired a vaguely familiar voice on the other end.

"Yeah?"

"It's Brooke. Did I wake you up?"

"Wha--? Oh, oh hi! Um…yeah, you did." Natalie told her as she woke up a little more at the sound her best friend's voice. With everything that had happened, it had felt like ages since she had seen her.

"Oh, sorry about that, I just wanted to call 'cause I haven't seen you in, well since…" her voice trailed off and Natalie knew what she meant: the two hadn't seen each other since before Keith died and graduation didn't count since they hadn't exactly talked.

Brook cleared her throat on the other end. "So, um, how're you doing?"

"Oh, I'm…I'm doing okay."

"Well, I still can't believe I was so horrible to him, after finding out all he went through."

"Keith didn't hate you, if that's what you're thinking," Natalie assured her. "I don't think he could hate anyone, really."

"Thanks, he really wasn't a freak, he just, I dunno he was just…"

"Keith," Natalie supplied for her. "He was just Keith."

"Yeah," Brooke agreed and Natalie could hear the smile in her voice.

Silence followed as both of them tried to figure out what to say next. Natalie was on the verge of telling Brooke that she was pregnant when Brooke said, "Anyway, enough sad stuff, so I was wondering, do you want to get together sometime today? We could talk about what to do this summer before we all head off to college."

"Yeah that sounds fun."

"Okay, so…do you wanna go out for breakfast? We could just go to IHOP or something. I think it's still early enough."

Natalie hesitated. Even though the only symptom she had had so far was morning sickness (which thankfully had not occurred yet) she knew that certain smells would make her nauseous, but she had yet to discover what smells those would be for her. She didn't want to risk going to a restaurant and finding out that the smell of coffee made her throw up. But on the plus side, it would provide a nice beginning to tell Brooke that she was pregnant, provided that she made it to the bathroom on time.

Hoping that that wouldn't happen and wanting to see her friend, Natalie said, "Sure, just give me half an hour and I'll meet you there."

"Okay, great! See you then."

"Bye."

After she hung up, Natalie sprang out of bed and into the shower. When she was finished, she got dressed and wrote a quick note to her parents in case she and Brook decided to spend the day together and so they didn't worry. Despite her lack of sleep the previous night, she got ready pretty quickly and before she knew it, she was sitting across from Brooke at the local IHOP with a plate of French toast in front of her.

As Natalie debated whether the toast would make her throw up, Brook talked nonstop about all that she had done in such a short time that had been their first few weeks of summer. Natalie only half listened to her ramble as her stomach churned.

Finally, Brook paused to catch her breath. "So, have you been doing okay with…everything?"

"You already asked me that on the phone," Natalie reminded her tersely. "And yeah, I'm doing fine. I knew it was coming but he…he just got so sick so fast!" She wiped viciously at her eyes as she spoke. She couldn't allow herself to think about Keith's final days, not when she had other, more important things to think about…like the part of him that was growing inside of her.

"That's why cancer just sucks," said Brooke. "A person could be perfectly healthy one day and then two weeks later, they're breathin' through a tube."

"Yeah," Natalie agreed quietly.

An awkward silence followed where neither of them knew what to say next. Natalie didn't know why it had become so awkward, considering that Brooke had been her best friend since elementary school. She glanced up at her then to see that she sipping her orange juice, so Natalie, wanting to break the silence, took a deep breath and said, "The thing is, Brooke, I gotta tell you something and I'm just trying to figure out how to say it."

"Just spit it out," her friend advised. "That's usually the best way."

"Yeah, okay." _Geez, I'm more nervous telling her than I was when I told my parents! How messed up is_ _that?!_ Natalie thought wildly before she confessed. "Brooke, I'm…I'm pregnant."

Brooke choked on her OJ and promptly started coughing. When it had subsided, she gasped. "You're…_pregnant_?! What do you mean _pregnant_?!"

"You know, pregnant," said Natalie as nonchalantly as she could, "as in, knocked up, bun in the oven…uh, with child, if you wanna be old fashioned."

"Holy shit," Brooke swore. "How the hell did that happen?!"

"Oh, c'mon, Brooke you've taken Health---"

"I know _how_ it happened, as in the biology of it but, I mean…how could you…I mean, you of all people…does Raff know?" she finally managed to ask.

"Er, no but Raff's not the father, Brooke," Natalie answered carefully, knowing the reaction that was sure to follow.

And it was as she suspected: Brooke's eyes widened as her mouth fell open in shock. "What?!" she gasped, thankfully more softly than before. "You mean…._Keith's_ the dad?"

"Yeah."

"Wow," said Brooke. "Wow, that's…that's just…" She let the sentence die as she shook her head at her friend. "Natalie, I'm sorry." She said finally.

"Sorry?" Natalie questioned. "Why should you be sorry? Because Keith left me like this? It wasn't his fault, he didn't know I was pregnant and neither did I and besides, he didn't want to die in the first place."

"No, I—I figured that but it's just I know you had so many plans…"

"Yeah, well, sometimes plans change," Natalie snapped quickly, not wanting to start an argument with her best friend especially in a restaurant. "And after I fell in love with Keith, Duke really didn't seem all that important anymore."

To her surprise, Brook smiled. "Yeah, I know, he changed you a lot but I think it was for the better."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"Gosh, thanks, Brooke that really means a lot."

"No problem, Nat," said Brook with a smile. Then she said brightly, "Hey, let's get outta here and go to the park and talk, okay?"

"Okay!" Natalie readily agreed.

* * *

And so fifteen minutes later, the two of them were sitting on a park bench while Natalie told Brooke all about her amazing OBGYN and everything that had happened before that.

"Jesus, Keith's dad must been one tough cookie," said Brooke when Natalie finished.

"How so?"

"I mean, think about it, he and his wife go through a miscarriage then have Keith. Then she dies from cancer fourteen years later and then his only kid dies from it three years later?! God, I think I would've killed myself after losing my family like that!" Brooke sighed as she shook her head. "I gotta give the man credit for sticking it out like he has."

"I think Henry feels that his wife and Keith would've wanted him to keep going for them," Natalie mused.

"Yeah, that makes sense and now that you're having Keith's kid, it's like he really will live on."

"That's exactly how I feel!" Natalie exclaimed happily.

"Feel about what?" asked a new yet very familiar voice suddenly.

Both Natalie and Brooke's head shot up to see none other than Raff standing in front of them. He was wearing black gym shorts and a red T-shirt whose sleeves had been cut off. It was clear that he had been out jogging, due to the dark sweat stain on his shirt.

"Oh, hey, Raff," said Natalie as she got to her feet.

"Hey," he replied. "What you guys doing out here?"

"Oh, we just haven't seen each other since…well, since Keith died so we decided to hang out for once," Brooke answered before Natalie could even open her mouth. "You know, he died, right?"

"Yeah, I saw the obit in the paper," said Raff stiffly. Then, looking straight at Natalie he asked, "So, how'd he die anyway? Did he finally realize that nobody liked him so he just decided to end it all?"

"He had _cancer_, you idiot!" Natalie yelled at him, shocked that he could think that Keith would commit suicide. "He had Leukemia and the chemo wasn't working. So, if it makes you happy to know, he died a slow and probably sometimes painful death but I know that he sure as hell did _not _want to die!"

Raff simply stared, too shocked by her words and her sudden outburst while Brooke laid a hand on her shoulder and said quietly, "Okay, Natalie, I think you _really_ need to calm down. It's not good for you to get all worked up in your, er condition." She added as she made Natalie sit back down on the bench.

"What condition?" Raff asked instantly as Natalie focused on calming herself down. But at his question, she looked up at him and said, "I'm pregnant, Raff and Keith's the dad."

"You're—_what_?!" he cried. "Are telling me that even though you waited to do it with me, you did it with Keith because he was a loner and you felt sorry for him, didn't you?"

"Raff, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Natalie snapped at him. "My relationship with him was a lot different from what I had with you and when we decided to 'do it' it wasn't because I felt sorry for him at all…it was because I—I loved him."

"Okay, I get that, but now what're you gonna do with his kid?" Raff demanded. "Because you know,_ I_ wouldn't have gotten you like this._ I_ know you have dreams that don't include being a mom at seventeen."

But before Natalie could even come up with a possible comeback, Brooke leaped to her feet and snarled at him. "Okay, you seriously need to _shut the hell up_, Raff. I think Natalie has enough to deal with right now without you bashing her dead boyfriend. You and Natalie are over and you've _been_ over for a long time, so just leave her the hell alone and go find some new cute girl to lose your virginity to!"

When she was finished, Brooke crossed her arms over her chest and glared so severely at Raff, that Natalie had a whole new meaning to the phrase 'if looks could kill'. Raff stared at Brooke for a moment but he looked at Natalie and said in a low voice. "I hope this kid doesn't screw up your life any more than its father already has." Then he promptly turned and jogged away, leaving Natalie and Brooke to stare after him.

When Raff had disappeared, Brooke said, "Jesus, what a jerk. I never knew he could hold a grudge like that."

"I can't believe he hated Keith so much," said Natalie softly.

"Don't pay any attention to him, Natalie," Brooke advised as she pulled her to her feet. "He just hates Keith 'cause he can't hate you because you were his girlfriend and he thought he was so much better than Keith."

"I know," said Natalie as tears pricked her eyes. "It's just his words kinda hurt a bit. He could at least _try_ to be sad that Keith died like he did."

"Don't even think about what he said, Nat 'cause it's not true," Brooke said firmly. "Now, come on, we should probably head home before your parents start to get worried or something."

"Yeah," Natalie said with a laugh. "And even though I slept for most of the morning, a nap sounds like a really good idea right now!"

**Author's Note: I hope the ending with Raff was realistic enough, but I wanted to have some tension between him and Natalie. **

**Alright, I'm going to take a leaf out of acciodanrad98's book and ask if there is anything in terms of sub plot (ie plot that doesn't involve Natalie's pregnancy) that you'd like to see along while she deals with the next nine months. I'm obviously going to include what she's going to do as far as future plans but any ideas that you guys have to keep the story moving would be greatly appreciated! Just send them in your reviews or PM me. Thanks!**


	8. Final Decision

**Author's Note: Hello, all! Thank you very much for the reviews on the last chapter! I'm glad everyone seemed to like the confrontations. I'm also very glad you all thought that Brooke's reactions to Raff's words about Keith were realistic enough cuz I wasn't sure if they were but I thought it would be both funny and good for her to stick up for Natalie like that. Let me assure that Brooke is going to be appearing a lot more often in this story and you will see Raff one more time but I didn't want to bring him too much into this story cuz there's really no point in him being in it, since Natalie left him.**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter and please review!**

Chapter 8

Final Decision

After her eventful meeting with both Brooke and Raff, the next two weeks became very eventful as well, at least from Natalie's perspective. During that time, she saw Brooke twice and they talked about Natalie's symptoms and as much as she didn't want to think about it, college.

"So, I guess it's kind of a good thing that you lost that scholarship," Brooke remarked as she sat on Natalie's bed, flipping through a thick college finder book. " 'Cause I mean, from what you told me the first time we got together you didn't really wanna go to Duke anyway, right?"

"Yeah," said Natalie from where she sat at her computer, reading various blogs about teen pregnancy.

"And now that money can go to someone who really needs it and anyway, maybe now you can go to a school that's closer to home. By the way, do you have any colleges in mind?"

Natalie turned around at her words and furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "Well, I haven't really thought about it…but I think the best thing to do would be to find a community college that's really close by or has classes online so I can stay home. Does that sound good?"

Brook nodded vigorously. "Yeah and then you get all your gen eds done and then maybe once you're done with that, you wouldn't even have to go to Duke but you could go someplace closer to home like…Norte Dame," she coughed.

Knowing what her friend was getting at, Natalie laughed. "Brooke, come on! I can't go to Norte Dame with a kid!"

"Sure you can! It'll be two years old by the time you're done with the community college and it won't need you to watch it twenty-four seven. So, then you can come and stay with me and we can go to Norte Dame together which would be totally awesome by the way! And I gotta admit it, Natalie but I didn't really want you to go all the way to South Carolina anyway 'cause I would never see you!"

"That's why there's something called cell phones, Brooke and e-mail," Natalie told her. "Anyway, what's your point?"

"My point is that you could come to Norte Dame, live with me and be a normal college student while your mom took care of the kid."

"Oh, I'm sure my mom will just _love_ that!" said Natalie sarcastically.

"Oh, come on! She's not still pissed at you, is she?"

"Well, no but she's not exactly_ happy_ about it either. I'm glad that she's letting me have it but she said we going to decide to keep it later on."

"Yeah, that's right, you told me in the park," said Brooke, nodding her head. "And, I gotta say that's a pretty stupid plan."

"You think?" Natalie questioned.

"Yeah, I do. I mean, if Keith was alive, I think she would've said you could have it _and_ keep it. But since he isn't, who's to say that she won't tell you to give it for adoption when you're whale size and acting all motherly and stuff," Brook mused.

"Wow, thanks for the image of me the size of a whale, Brooke," said Natalie, again with much sarcasm.

"Just tryin' to lighten the situation a little."

Silence fell on them then as they each returned back to their tasks but Natalie's mind kept returning to what Brooke had just said. She had been so busy with her prenatal exam, monitoring her symptoms and telling her friends (although whether she could really count Raff as a friend was another story) the news, she hadn't given much thought to her mother's decision that first night after she had found out she was pregnant. Did her mom really expect her, after all that she had said about the baby being a part of Keith, to carry it to full term and then just hand it over to strangers? No way was she going to do that! Not with Keith's child, a child that would be closest thing she would have to the real Keith on earth.

She was definitely going to have a talk with her mother about it once Brooke left.

"So I forgot to ask that day at the park," Brook said suddenly, "mainly 'cause we were so _rudely_ interrupted by Idiot Boy."

"Yeah?" Natalie asked, forcing herself back to the present.

"How was it?"

Natalie looked behind her at her friend. "How was what?"

"Your French toast…no, the sex, stupid! The sex you had with Keith!"

"Oh," said Natalie, as realization dawned on her. "That."

"Yes, that!" said Brooke excitedly. "So, how was it? I wanna hear the all horny details!"

"It was…good," Natalie told her sheepishly.

Brooke stared at her. "Good? That's it? It was just…_good_?!"

"Yeah." Natalie shrugged. "I mean it was sort of unexpected 'cause it was after he was gone for those two weeks and I was just so worried about him. I knew I had to tell him how I felt, so I hid in the back of his truck and when he stopped, I told him that I didn't care if he was crazy or where he was gonna be next year…I just wanted to be with him." During her explanation, her voice grown soft as she slipped into the memory of that night. The night that had changed both her and Keith's lives forever.

But Brooke's question jarred her out of her reverie. "So what happened then?"

"He acted like he wasn't listening to me, he even had his back to me and I started crying as I realized how much I loved him and then he turned around…and he was kissing me and I was kissing him and then one thing led to another and…well, you know."

"You did it," Brooke filled in.

"Yeah, basically."

"Where?"

"In the back of his truck."

"Typical, I guess considering it's Keith," said Brooke, "but yeah that whole bit with you crying and everything, it's kind of corny, yet sweet at the same time."

"Yeah," Natalie agreed softly as she once again thought back to that night. "Yeah, it is."

Silence fell on them once more until Brook said softly. "Hey, I know that you told me that Keith wouldn't have hated me after all the stuff I said about him but I still feel bad about it. So, will you let me do something for you to make up for it?"

"Okay, what did you have in mind exactly?"

Here, Brook smiled. "Can I throw you your baby shower?"

* * *

After Natalie had nearly hugged her to death at the thought of her planning her baby shower, Brooke left for home, telling Natalie to just call if she wanted to meet up again and promising that she would start researching community colleges for her. Natalie assured her she would probably call her again sometime soon and as Brook drove away, she couldn't help but be so grateful that they had made up and were on such good terms again.

Then, she went to find her parents.

She found them in her dad's office, talking quietly and even though she couldn't hear what they were saying, she had pretty good idea what it was they were talking about.

She knocked on the door jam and they both looked up in surprise at the sight of her and their conversation ceased immediately.

"Hey, can I talk to you guys about something?" she asked.

"Sure, Nat, what's up?" asked Pete.

"Do you want me to give the baby up for adoption?" she blurted out instantly.

"Of course not, honey," said Caroline gently. "We want you to do whatever you feel you should do about it."

"Okay, I want to keep it but _you_ guys want to give it up for adoption, don't you?" she snapped.

"Natalie, why would you think that?" Pete inquired.

" 'Cause of what Mom said the night I found out," Natalie answered, trying to keep her voice calm. "She said that I could have it but we would decide later about what do with it. Well, it's later now and I'm telling you that I want to keep it."

"That's fine, Natalie but I just don't think you understand all of the work it's going to be," said Caroline. "It's not easy raising a child on your own."

"I'm not going to _be_ on my own, Mom! I've got you guys and Henry and Zach and Cynthia to help me."

"I wasn't necessarily referring to us and Henry," said her mother quietly.

Natalie stared at her, trying to think her she was referring to when the answer flared inside her brain like a match flaring into life. "You're talking about Keith, aren't you?" she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes," Caroline replied. "If Keith were alive, Nat, things would be different but since he's not—"

"I'm going to have only his child to remember him by, Mom," Natalie reminded her firmly. "And that child will live on for him." Then, she stepped further into the room and tried to put on her best pleading expression. "Look, I know it's gonna be hard and I know you probably think that I have no idea what I'm getting myself into but like I said that night, I'm not having this baby to replace Keith because nothing can replace him. I'm having so that a little part of him can live on for him. If he was here, I think he would agree with me in that he wouldn't want to give it up for adoption, he would want to keep it and would love it just as much as he loves me…and I love him."

Neither of her parents spoke when Natalie finished but she saw her mom glance at her dad and he did the same and it was through those held glances that they seemed to come to a decision as her mom said. "Alright, Natalie, it seems like this is your final decision on the subject so despite our own feelings on it, we can keep the baby once it is born."

Natalie felt her heart felt as the biggest of smiles spread across her face as she threw her arms around her mother. "Oh, Mom, thank you! I'm so glad you understand! Thank you, thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, Nat," Caroline replied with a small smile as Natalie released her. "Just be sure to remember this moment a year from now when you're being woken up every two hours!"

Natalie laughed at that even though she knew her mother was right. But she didn't let that thought wipe the smile from her face as she bounded back up to her room. After all, if Keith could endure grueling chemo treatments yet still retain his carefree attitude, she could _certainly_ bear and raise his child…no matter what.

**Author's Note: Well, at least now we know for sure that Natalie is keeping the baby. Oh and I know you are probably wondering why Keith hasn't shown up in awhile…don't worry he's going to make a big appearance in one of the upcoming chapters so be on the lookout for that! **

**I hope the chapter wasn't too boring for you and please review! **


	9. A Peaceful Place

**Author's Note: I honestly didn't think I'd update this quickly! Wow! Anyway, here's chapter 9 which contains Natalie's first ultrasound and an appearance from Henry. Hope you enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 9

A Peaceful Place

Before Natalie knew it, it was the day of her second appointment with Dr. Covington. The atmosphere this time was much different from the first, as she sat on the white examination table once more. Instead of nervous tension, she felt both excited and curious as to what the examination would entail.

To her complete surprise, when Dr. Covington entered she informed them that Natalie was to have her first ultrasound exam and told them to follow her to the room where the machine was kept.

Natalie felt butterflies swarm in her stomach as they walked down the hall. Even though she knew very well that she was pregnant (her morning sickness reminded her of it nearly every morning) she still couldn't believe that she was going to see her (and Keith's) baby for real.

When they arrived, Dr. Covington instructed Natalie to lie down on the table and lift up her shirt. When she had done this, Dr. Covington began spreading an odd gel on her stomach.

"What's that for?" Natalie asked.

"It's so the transducer can move more easily across your stomach," Dr. Covington replied as she picked up the round handheld device. "All right, now you just lay back and relax, this is gonna feel a little weird at first. You'll be able to see your baby on the screen here." She pointed to the monitor which was full of gray and white fuzziness. "Since you're only two months along, it's still going to be pretty small but we'll see what we can see." She placed the transducer on Natalie's abdomen and then looked down at her with an encouraging smile. "Ready?"

Natalie nodded, too nervous and excited to speak.

Silence filled the room then as three pairs of eyes stared transfixed at the screen that showed Natalie's uterus. After what felt like ten minutes, wild thoughts began to form in her head. What she really wasn't pregnant? What if she just had an upset stomach or something and all the pregnancy tests had just showed a false positive? Or what if she had had a miscarriage like Keith's mother?

Yet her fears instantly turned to relief when Dr. Covington exclaimed. "Ah ha! There it is! It was hiding on us. Although that is understandable considering it is a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack." Natalie looked at the screen as she spoke. She couldn't see anything different about it except for a bright white and gray spot had appeared in the middle of it.

As Natalie stared at it, she heard her mom say softly. "That's your baby, Nat."

"That white spot?"

"Uh-huh."

And that was when realization struck her. "Oh my god." Then, she glanced up at her doctor. "It looks really small, is it okay?"

"That's how everyone starts out, as a tiny little speck and yes, everything looks just fine," she replied with a smile.

"Can we get a picture?" Caroline asked suddenly. When Natalie looked her, she was surprised to see that her mom's eyes looked wet. "Mom, are you _crying_?"

"No," said Caroline quickly, wiping hastily at her eyes. "No, I just got a little emotional seeing my first grandchild."

"Oh, don't worry, I was bawling when I had to do this the very first time," Dr. Covington told as she cleaned off Natalie's abdomen. Natalie was quiet while her mother talked to her doctor who was busily typing a few things into a computer and printing out a picture of Natalie's ultrasound. She walked in a daze back to the car and only came back to her senses when her mother asked, "You okay, Natalie?"

"Yeah," she replied as she glanced down at the ultrasound picture in her hand. "Yeah, it's just that everything just kind of came into focus today. I mean, I knew was pregnant and everything but now…actually seeing it…it just…" her voice trailed off as she struggled to convey all the strange feelings she was having. She shook her head and turned to look out the window and neither of them spoke for the rest of the way.

* * *

When she got home, Natalie slipped the ultrasound picture into her purse and then got into Keith's truck….and promptly got out again when she felt tears begin to prick her eyes. Once she was seated in her own car, she began to drive, wanting to find some quiet place to think.

She considered going to their 'spot' by the lake but knew that it held too many memories of Keith. From the fact that he had gone there himself to think and be alone to both of them losing their virginity there, Natalie knew that it would all be too much to bear.

So she decided to go to the one place where she could be as physically, spiritual and emotionally close to Keith as she could get.

* * *

Natalie had never really liked cemeteries. When she was little, she had been absolutely terrified of them because of all the ghost stories that took place in them. And every time she rode past one she would never fail to hold her breath so that a ghost was unable to haunt her. As she grew older, her fear turned to mere sadness of such places. It seemed depressing in an of itself that a stone slab was the only thing to show that someone lived and died. They never said anything about the person that would tell an onlooker what they had been like in life. They were nothing more than a name and two dates.

And then there was the absolute silence of them, as Natalie was discovering as she weaved her way through the graves. The sun may have been shining brightly but the cemetery was still with not a breath of wind to rustle the tress, allowing the dead to lie in peace.

Keith's headstone was under a tree or partially under it anyway as his parents' headstone was fully under it. The square slab of granite stood upright with ZETTERSTROM across the top in bold capital letters. Below the name, Natalie saw, was Henry's own name and birth date and next to his was of course, Sandra's. Keith had revealed very little to her about his mother but she did know that she had died of cancer when he had been fourteen and it was three years later on the anniversary of her death that Keith had discovered that he had leukemia.

_What a sick twist of fate_, Natalie thought angrily. _What a horrible, horrible twist of fate. _

Natalie stared a little longer at his mother's grave before moving on to his.

Keith had been buried next to his mother about two feet away. His headstone was exactly alike his parents' except smaller. Natalie felt tears prick her eyes as she read it:

KEITH

April 9, 1989—May 15, 2006

She was glad that it did not include his middle name since she could never have imagined anyone calling him both names, to her and to everyone else who had known him, he was just Keith.

"I—I had my first ultrasound today," she said to the headstone and instantly felt stupid. What was she doing talking to a rock? It wasn't like the rock would talk back in Keith's voice. He was probably snickering at her right now for doing it. But she remembered the reason that she had come here in the first place and somehow got the feeling that no matter what Keith may have thought, he was still listening. So, she pressed on.

"It went really well and I have a picture but it's not much," she admitted, glancing down at it as she spoke. "It's just a white dot and to tell you the truth, it kinda does look like a peanut." She couldn't help but smile as she remembered her dreams with him. "Anyway, um now that I have a picture, the reality is really setting in. I've…I've got a _person_ growing inside of me. It's just really weird to think about even though I've known it for two months already, but…god, Keith,_ why_ aren't you here?! Why?! I need you here, I don't know if I can do this by myself. My family is supporting me but I…I just need you here, Keith. We both do." On the verge of tears now, Natalie turned away, wiping at her eyes and when she looked up again she saw none other than Henry standing before her.

"Oh, um, hello, Henry," she said weakly, wiping once more at her eyes. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," he replied with a half smile. Natalie noticed that two folding chairs were leaning against him and he was holding a brown paper bag in one hand.

"What are those for?" she asked, gesturing to the chairs.

"I figured we could have a picnic," he answered as he set them up in a half circle and sat down on one. Natalie looked at him for a moment and then took a seat on the other.

"Actually, your mother called me and told me about your ultrasound," Henry admitted when she was seated. "She said that you had gone out driving and I figured here was one of the most likely places that you would go. I hope you don't mind." He added when he finished.

"No," said Natalie. "I could use the company."

"So could I."

"What's in the bag?"

He opened it wordlessly and Natalie saw that it contained nothing more than two Twinkies.

"I figured beef jerky probably wasn't the best thing for you," said Henry as he handed her one. "But I hope this doesn't make you sick."

"Only one way to find out," Natalie grinned as she bit into the cream filled pastry. It tasted wonderful.

They ate in silence for awhile after that. Natalie ate as slowly as she could, knowing that she probably would throw up if she ate too fast. When he was finished with his Twinkie, Henry asked. "Can I see your ultrasound picture?"

"Of course, you're the grandpa after all!"

He stared at it for several moments before he handed it back to her and said, "Yeah, it doesn't look like much, but just give it a few months and it'll be a full fledged miracle. Keith would be thrilled, I'm sure." He paused while Natalie finished up her Twinkie and then asked, "So, what's been going on since I last saw you?"

She licked her fingers of cream as she considered his question. What should she tell him about first? Her dreams of Keith? Telling Brooke? The unexpected meeting with Raff? Her parents telling her that she could really keep the baby?

She ended up telling him everything. From the moment he had come over to her house that first night up until her recent ultrasound. When she finished, her throat was dry and she longed for a drink but managed to ask. "Do you think I'm crazy having dreams of Keith?"

"Not at all," Henry assured. "I had dreams of Sandra for months after she died. Finding out that you're pregnant so soon after Keith died is quite a blow and it's perfectly natural, I think, considering the relationship you two had." He paused and then said seriously. "Just promise me one thing, Natalie."

"What's that?"

"That you won't get so focused on having a dream of Keith that you forget to focused on the present."

Here, Natalie smiled. "Don't worry, Henry, I've been so busy that I haven't even thought about them…but I do miss him."

"Of course you do. I miss him and Sandra every day."

Natalie only nodded in understanding and then when Henry rose to his feet, she got up with him and he hugged her like he had done on her porch that one night. While they embraced, Henry said softly. "Don't worry, Natalie, he's here whenever you need him and he always will be, for both of you." And Natalie smiled at the thought.

Then, Henry released her but he kept one arm around her shoulder as the two of them contemplated those that they had lost and those they would gain in the future.

**Author's Note: I'm sorry to say but this is going to be my last update for awhile as I'm going to be very busy this week since I'm leaving to go on vacation to Washington DC on Friday (so excited!) so my next update won't be until sometime after I come back. But I can assure you wholeheartedly that Keith WILL appear in the next chapter. So, sorry to leave you hanging like that but I hope you liked the chapter and please review!**


	10. Keith's Wish

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay in updating! But as you know, I was on vacation in DC (had an awesome time by the way!) and then I was busy writing the next chapter for another fanfic but as promised here is the chapter long Keith dream! And after rereading this story, I realized that it's been quite awhile since we've seen him so I figured it was a good thing to make this dream take up the full chapter.**

**The first sentence of it is the only one that's going to be in italics to let you know where it starts since it really didn't seem necessary to put the whole chapter in italics. So I hope you enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 10

Keith's Wish

When Natalie climbed into bed that night, a strange mixture of feelings was swirling inside of her. She was overjoyed at having her first ultrasound and seeing her baby for the first time (no matter how small it was at the moment) but also a little sad about her visit to the cemetery. As much as she told herself that it had been good for her to go, the reality of seeing Keith's headstone made his death all the more real and she knew very well that she needed to move on, that he wouldn't want her to be sad and that he would want her to focus on the baby, or Peanut as she had decided to call it for the time being.

"_I knew you'd warm up to that name eventually," said an amused voice._

Natalie jumped in surprise and delight at the sound of that all too familiar voice and she turned to look at her desk, expecting him to be sitting in her chair like before, and she was very surprised when he was not. Yet her surprise heightened even more and she instinctively to her stomach when she looked ahead of her and saw him sitting with his knees under his chin at the end of her bed, with his signature half smile plastered on his face.

"Howdy, partner," he said when she finally laid eyes on him.

"Keith, you…you scared me!" she gasped as she sat up in bed.

"Not too much, I hope," he said, his smile melting off his lips as he glanced at her hand where it lay on her stomach.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting you," Natalie admitted. "But it's so good to see you again!"

"I'm sorry I haven't come back in awhile," Keith apologized as he crawled closer to her. "It's just…they don't like people to visit too often, but I told them that I needed to support you and that included visiting you more often, especially since I can't be with you physically anymore."

"Who's 'they'?" Natalie asked.

"Oh, you know, the head honchos up there," he gestured vaguely towards the ceiling.

"You mean, there's more than one?"

"Yeah, what, did you think I was the only person who's died in the world or somethin'?"

"No, it's just…never mind." The idea of Keith having a casual conversation with someone like an angel or even Jesus or God was a bit hard to imagine, especially since she didn't think Keith had been particularly religious person to begin with.

"Well, I'm glad we've cleared that up," said Keith brightly as he situated himself next to Natalie. " 'Cause I really don't wanna go into the whole heaven thing anyway, but I gotta tell you, partner it ain't all fluffy pink clouds and halos."

"So, what is it like?"

"Incomplete."

"How so?" Although she had a pretty good guess as to what he was going to say.

"You aren't with me," he said softly. "But I don't want you to be with me just yet because then you'd be dead. I want you to stick around and be an awesome mom to Peanut and live to be a hundred."

"I don't think I'd _want_ to live to be a hundred."

"I didn't _want_ to live to be seventeen, partner," Keith replied, his voice growing soft again. "So, if you live to be a hundred, you'll have lived seven times as long as I did!" he ended cheerfully as if it was something to be proud of. But Natalie did not find the thought of her living longer than Keith had, especially seven times as long, comforting at all.

She said nothing in reply and neither of them said or did anything until she felt the tip of one of his fingers caress her cheek gently and he whispered. "I'm sorry, partner, I don't mean to make you sad and think about me being dead, and I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you."

"I'm not mad at you for dying or anything because you couldn't help getting leukemia," Natalie said, her voice cracking. "It's just—" But before she could continue, Keith pressed a finger to her lips and his green eyes stared at her with so much love and affection that she felt she would cry and she immediately hated herself for thinking that she would since it seemed that all she ever did around Keith was cry now.

"Natalie, sweetheart, if I told you once, I've told you a thousand times, I'm _not_ going to leave you and Peanut. I'll be with you forever in some form or another. I got be honest about this partner, but whenever I've come to see you, you always cry and I don't wanna see you cry. I wanna see you smile and be happy that one day you're gonna be Peanut's mom." He paused to kiss her nose and ran his hand through her hair. "I think you've cried enough to last you a lifetime, partner."

Natalie nodded. She couldn't agree more with him and the few tears that flowed next were happy ones as he wrapped in his arms and promptly kissed them away like something out of a cheesy love ballad. When she was calmer, she couldn't believe how safe she felt in his arms. Keith might not have been the most muscular of boys like Raff, but he was strong in his own way through his actions and words.

The contented moment was spoiled however when Keith remarked jokingly. "Pretty soon I won't be able to do this 'cause you're gonna be heavier than you've probably weighed your whole life!"

"Oh, shut up!" she snapped, her voice muffled from where her face was pressed into his shoulder.

"Well, it's true and you gotta face the facts about this kind of stuff, partner 'cause you're gonna blow up like a balloon in a few months!"

"Didn't I just tell you to shut up?"

"Bite me."

She did, on his earlobe and hard.

"Ow!" he yelped, clutching his ear.

"Well, you shouldn't tell me to do things to you unless you actually mean it," said Natalie matter-of-factly.

Keith merely rolled his eyes at her before he kissed her forehead and asked, "You wanna get out of here?"

"Sure. But where are we going?"

Here, he smiled knowingly. "You'll see."

* * *

The place that they ended up going was one that Natalie had not been to since before Keith had gotten really sick. It was their 'spot' on the cliff that overlooked the lake.

She hadn't returned mainly because she had been so busy with her pregnancy and because it held far too many good memories of Keith and she wasn't sure if she would be able to ever go back to it without thinking of him.

But now that he was here with her in some form or another, it felt just like the old times when they had laid in the back of his truck and talked. The only difference now was that they were sitting on the cliff edge and Keith had an arm wrapped around her shoulder and his voice was happy and relaxed instead of sad and stressed over his impending death and the pain he would cause her.

"So, partner, what's been happening while I've been away?" he asked when they had gotten comfortable on the cliff.

Natalie took a moment to answer. Where was she going to start? Would Keith be upset if she told him that she had told Raff? Did he really want to hear about her prenatal exam and how would he react to the ultrasound picture?

Eventually she told him everything. Starting with the night that she told her parents before quickly moving onto her prenatal exam and her amazing OBGYN. Then she went on to describe Brooke's reaction to the news and then reluctantly moved onto Raff.

"And he was a total jerk about it, calling you a loner and thinking that you killed yourself 'casue no one liked you," said Natalie, shaking her head slightly in disgust, "which is absolutely ridiculous 'cause—"

"No, it's not," Keith interrupted.

"What is?"

"That I was a loner 'cause I was."

"You weren't a loner, Keith."

"Yes, I was!" he yelled suddenly. "I didn't have five million friends, I barely talked to anyone! Everyone thought I was a psycho 'cause I worked on my truck all the time and then randomly disappeared for days or weeks!" He paused to take a few deep breaths before he continued. "I know they thought I was a freak and they made me feel even more like one 'cause I felt like I was the only kid in school was dying…and I WAS!" he shouted this part angrily before he buried his face in his hands. Natalie waited to comfort him in some way but she just waited patiently for him to continue and when he did, he spoke in his normal tone albeit bitterly. "I bet they were just waiting for me to crack and reenact that one Pearl Jam video* so I could get my revenge on them all or something."

Figuring that he was finished, Natalie drew him to her like he had done to comfort her earlier and said, "It doesn't matter anymore, Keith because you had me to tease and harass and eventually see the real, wonderful you."

"Yeah, you were pretty fun to mess with," he admitted. "I could tell I was making you so damn frustrated during those chem labs!"

"The hell you were!"

"Ah, well it was all part of my master plan to make you as miserable as I was, which by the way I hope you can forgive me for."

"Oh, Keith, that was the best thing that anyone could've done for me," she replied. "You were the first one to pull me off my perfect pedestal and show me what life was really supposed to be like."

"Really? Are you sure?" he asked.

"Absolutely."

Keith smiled a boyish grin before he laid his head in her lap and immediately sat up again in alarm.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked.

"I'm squishing Peanut! Sorry kiddo," he added in the direction of her lap.

Natalie laughed at his concern as she pulled out the ultrasound picture from her back pocket. "Speaking of Peanut," she said to Keith. "I had my first ultrasound today and well…" she let her voice trail off as she handed him the photo.

He took it gingerly in his hands as if it were made of precious china. He stared at it for a few long minutes, saying nothing. Then, he got up and walked toward the edge of the cliff and began to pace back and forth, staring all the while at the picture. Natalie was beginning to think that he was somehow angry or upset that she was pregnant until he stopped pacing and walked over to her.

"I always used to hate it when the teachers in Health or Bio would call the reproduction unit, the Miracle of Life 'cause I always thought it was so cheesy and stupid, 'cause people were having kids all the time and really wasn't a 'miracle' as far I could tell. But, now looking at this picture, even though Peanut's still, well a peanut, he or she really is a miracle. We just wanted to show how much we loved each other and this is the amazing result of that." He paused to stare down in awe at the picture in his hand and continued. "When we first talked about you being pregnant, I was excited but more worried for you because I knew that you were scared to be alone but now looking at this tiny little speck….god, it's amazing!"

Natalie smiled as she got to her feet and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I know," she agreed. "It really hit me when I had the ultrasound that I'm actually going to be a mom and I know that I have no idea what's in store but I know I'll be fine."

"Of course you will," Keith assured her as he kissed her forehead. "I _know_ you will, partner."

They stayed wrapped in each other's arms for several long minutes before Keith stepped away from her but kept his hands on her shoulders. "There's something that I have to tell you, partner," he said seriously. "Actually, it's more of a wish that I have for this son or daughter of ours and it's one I hope you can make come true, at least for my piece of mind."

"Your wish is my command, Keith," said Natalie, in all seriousness as she stared into his calm green eyes.

He took a deep breath before he said, "My wish is for our child to have a real dad to love it and you and not a dead one that they will only know from a few pictures and a headstone."

Natalie stared at him, of all things that he could've asked of her, he wanted her to do the one thing that she felt she was incapable of: loving someone else.

"Keith, I—I understand what you're saying but I just…I just don't' think I could do that, you're the only person I've really loved and I…I don't want to love anyone else!" She cried, tightening her hold on him.

"I'm not saying that you have to go searching now, partner," Keith assured her. "I just wish that sometime in the future, you'll be able to love someone enough to make you as happy as you made me and someone who can give Peanut the experiences that I ca—won't be able to, okay?"

Natalie nodded slowly. "Okay, Keith, I'll try. Really, I will and if it helps, I'll only continue to date him if you give your approval, how's that sound?"

"Great! And if he messes with my girl or my kid, I'll go all _Poltergeist_ on him!" Keith announced with a devilish grin.

Natalie laughed as Keith hugged her to his chest and she knew even if she did give her heart to someone else, as Keith wished and wanted her too, she knew that it would first and foremost belong to him.

**Author's Note: Kinda cheesy ending there I know, but I wanted to end it on a high note. The video that I make reference to with the * is the video for the Pearl Jam song, "Jeremy" which is about the true story of a teenage boy who was a loner and didn't have a lot of friends (and who was supposedly abused by his father) and one day walked into his English class and shot himself in front of everyone in order to make them notice him. The video itself is really one of the most creative music videos I've seen and even though it's a bit creepy, I encourage you to watch….except of course, if you don't like Pearl Jam.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and hopefully the next one will be up sooner! Please review!**


	11. Unexpected Visit

**Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter! I have to agree with acciodanrad9 (I finally got your name right!...Hopefully) in that that last chapter was probably my favorite as far as content. I hope this chapter isn't too short but I wanted to get it up quickly since I felt like I hadn't updated in awhile. So here is chapter 11, which features the return of Raff, hope you enjoy and please review!**

**For any younger or sensitive readers: this chapter contains some swearing, nothing huge but just to warn you. **

Chapter 11

Unexpected Visit

Natalie and Keith were back in her room far too soon and when they arrived, Keith said. "I'll try and come back sooner next time, partner, I promise." Natalie nodded and he kissed her cheek before tucking her into bed. The last thing she saw before she closed his eyes were his mesmerizing green eyes and his signature wry grin playing on his lips.

And then she opened her eyes again and discovered it was morning and for once, she wasn't sad about waking up after another Keith dream, but she smiled with happiness.

* * *

The summer seemed to fly by after that. Natalie still had morning sickness but certainly wasn't as bad as it had been in the beginning. She had cramps and the occasional mood swing but generally as June turned into July she felt very good all around.

That was, until one day in the middle of July.

On that day, Natalie was just finishing lunch when the doorbell rang. Wondering who could possibly be calling in the middle of day, she went to answer it and found none other than, Raff.

He had replaced his jogging outfit for a more causal T-shirt and cargo shorts. He gave her a small smile when she opened the door and said, "Hey, Natalie."

"Oh, um, hi Raff," she said slowly, wondering why in the world he would come to see her. "What are you doing here?"

Instead of answering, Raff asked her. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, sure, yeah c'mon in," she said, opening the screen door wider for him.

"Thanks."

A few minutes later, they were sitting in the kitchen where Natalie asked him again why he had come over.

"I came over to apologize," he said simply.

"Apologize? For what?" she asked, though she had a pretty good idea as to what he was apologizing for but she wanted to hear him say it.

"For what I said about Keith," he told her. "I mean, I never really knew him and I didn't have any clue that he was sick, so I just feel bad about what I said and I…I hope you can forgive me."

_It's not me whose forgiveness you need_, Natalie thought_, not that he would give it to you_. To Raff, she said. "I know you didn't know, Raff and I guess that's partly my fault 'cause I didn't tell you but it was Keith's decision to tell and besides, he wanted to keep it private."

Raff nodded in what Natalie hoped was understanding and said, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So, what are you gonna do about his kid?"

"I'm going to have it and keep it."

"Are you_ serious_?" He asked, shocked. "Natalie, _c'mon on_! What the hell are you going to do with a kid?! What about Duke?"

"I'm going to take care of it and Duke is just going to have to wait. In fact, I might even go to a state school since they're cheaper," Natalie replied as calmly as she could even though she did not like him asking so many questions.

Raff rolled his eyes as if he thought her plans were the most ridiculous ones ever. "I knew it," he said, his voice suddenly hard and cold. "I knew he was no good for you, Natalie, he's still screwin' up your life and he's dead!"

"Keith did _not_ screw up my life!" Natalie yelled at him. "Keith is—was the best thing that ever happened to me!"

"Oh, 'the best thing', huh? So the best thing to you is getting pregnant at seventeen?!" he shot back. "First, he screwed with your head and now he's screwed with your life and gotten you knocked up. Wow, what a great guy, Natalie." He finished sarcastically.

"Did you just come over to apologize or to fight with me about Keith?" Natalie snapped.

"I was wondering that myself," said a voice from behind Natalie.

The two of them whirled around to see Zach leaning against the wall of the hallway that led into the kitchen, watching them. He scowled at Raff and added coldly, "My sister told me what a complete jackass you were to her in the park and trust me, pretty boy, there's nothin' stoppin' me from punching you in the face right now."

Raff glared at Zach before looking back at Natalie and continued as if they had never been interrupted. "I did come over to apologize about Keith, but I also wanted to see if maybe…you wanted to get back together?"

"What?!" Natalie cried. "What made you think I'd want to get back together with you?"

"Because Keith's dead and we could start fresh," Raff said with complete confidence. "You need to stop thinking about him, Natalie," he said in a voice that she supposed was meant to be gentle. "Like I said, he's ruining your life with this baby and if you have it, you'll only think about him more and never fulfill your dreams." Here, he laid a hand on her shoulder and asked softly. "So, what'd you say, Natalie?"

Before Natalie could even come with a civil response (besides, "Hell, no!") her brother replied for her. "_I_ say that you're a desperate self centered bastard, but that's just me." Then, suddenly Zach was standing next to her and removed Raff's hand from her should and added, "Get the hell away from my sister, Marques, she loves Keith and she always will. Face it, you're ancient history, man."

"You can't keep me from seeing Natalie," Raff snapped back.

"Tell that to your nose," Zach threatened as he balled his hand into a fist. "Now get out before I start having malfunctioning fists." He glared so fiercely at Raff that Natalie thought he really was going to punch him (and she wouldn't have minded at all if she did) but Raff scowled and started to storm out of the room before he pivoted around suddenly, looked straight at Natalie and said in a low voice. "Good luck in your wasted life." Then he turned around and left.

When she heard the front door close behind him, Natalie collapsed onto the island top. She felt Zach lay a hand on her shoulder and she moaned. "I can't believe he came over to ask me out again! God, what an idiot! No, wait, _I'm_ the idiot for actually being his girlfriend! I think you should punch some sense into me, Zach, I could use it."

"You're not an idiot, Nat," Zach assured her as he pulled her to her feet. "And I'm not going to punch some sense into you because you already have enough of that for breaking up with him and deciding to be Keith's girlfriend."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Natalie agreed and then she did something that happened very rarely between her and her brother: she hugged him and said, "Thanks, Zach."

"Aw, it's what brothers are for…to protect their sisters even if they are older than them." And Natalie couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"Why didn't you call me?!" Brooke yelled that night after Natalie had finished telling her about Raff's surprise visit. "I could've come over and helped Zach beat the crap out of him for being such a prick!"

"Thanks for the offer but it all happened really fast," said Natalie as she skimmed through Brooke's very organized list of community college possibilities. "I am glad that he had the decency to apologize at least."

"Yeah, I guess," said Brooke, sounding doubtful. Then she said, happily. "So, anyway enough about Idiot Boy, tell me what you think of my list?"

And so thoughts of Raff flew from Natalie's mind as she and her best friend spent much of the night, talking about possible colleges and though the subject might not have been her first choice, Natalie couldn't be happier.

**Author's Note: Hope that ending wasn't too abrupt but like I said I really wanted to finish it quickly. This is the last chapter where you will see Raff and for those who are wondering I'm going to have another Natalie/Henry scene in the next chapter. So, please review!**


	12. A Special Present

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you liked it since I had fun writing it (especially the part with Zach sticking up for Natalie) here is the next chapter which I think is pretty funny but includes a very poignant (and hopefully not cliché) Natalie/Henry scene. Enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 12

A Special Present

The next day, the unexpected visit from Raff was the farthest from her mind as Natalie pondered her discussion with Brooke about her community college options. As much as she wanted to go to college, even it was just a community one she knew that she wouldn't have time to actually drive to a college during the day since she would be home with the baby. She also realized that not even night classes would work because she would be so exhausted from taking care of it all day and her parents worked all day so she couldn't expect them to take of it either. And besides, she didn't really want to have to rely on them anyway. Not only was there this problem of her actually going to the college but the fact that it was probably now too late to apply. Fed up with thinking about college and wanting to focus more on the baby as she had told herself she would, Natalie stuffed all of Brooke's lists and information into a drawer and promptly forgot about them.

But fate played a cruel trick on her when, after she had resolved to not think about college, at least for the time being, Brooke called up the next day, asking her if she wanted help her shop for things for her dorm room.

"You mean you haven't bought anything yet?" Natalie asked. "It's nearly August!"

"Of course I have," said Brooke. "I just need a like minded person's opinion on stuff that looks cool and trendy. You up for it?"

"Um, okay."

And so fifteen minutes later, the two of them were at Bed, Bath and Beyond perusing the brightly colored bed sheets and pillows. Finally, after nearly an hour, Brooke had selected a green and blue bedspread with matching blue sheets, along with a desk lamp and various 'trendy' storage bins. After they had loaded everything into her car, she said, "Thanks for coming along, Nat and I know this probably makes you sad with me buying all this stuff knowing that you, uh can't join in but now we can go buy you some stuff now!"

"What stuff?" Natalie asked as she buckled her seatbelt.

" 'What stuff?' " Brooke repeated, shocked. "Cute, adorable baby stuff, dimwit! You mean you haven't bought _anything_ yet?"

"Yeah, I mean I'm only three months along so…"

"So, that's three months less that you have to buy stuff!" Brooke interrupted as she started her car. "Now, call your mom and tell her what we're doing so she doesn't have a spazz attack 'cause I dunno how much shit we're going to buy…but it's gonna be _awesome_!"

So as Brooke pulled out of the parking lot, Natalie dutifully called her mom, who much to her surprise was thrilled with the idea. "Oh, honey, that's great!" she cried happily. "You've seemed so down lately that spending some time with Brooke will do you some good. Don't worry about furniture or anything because we still have to paint the guest room and I want to wait until we know for sure what it's going to be…if that's all right with you," she added.

"Um…yeah," said Natalie, still a bit surprised at her mother's enthusiasm. "Yeah, yeah, that makes sense."

"Okay, good, well have fun!" And she hung up, leaving Natalie staring at her phone in disbelief.

They ended up going to Target and since the gender was still unknown, the range of what they could buy was limited. Yet this fact did not deter Brooke in the slightest as she moved throughout the section, Natalie trailing behind.

"There's still tons of stuff a kid needs besides clothes and toys," she said. "Since neither of us have a lot of cash at the moment, I suggest we get the one thing that you can never have enough of."

"And what's that?"

"Diapers!" Brooke declared. "The only question is, where are they in this section?" As she glanced around the stuff animal stocked shelves.

"They're in the paper towel section," said Natalie finally.

"Huh?"

"This section's only for clothes and stuff, we have to go over to where all the paper products are."

"Are you _kidding_ me?"

Natalie shook her head.

"Crap," said Brooke, "well, come on, then." And she led the way further into the store.

* * *

After they loaded two large packs of diapers into their cart, they headed back to the baby section where Natalie found an adorable stars and moons mobile which also pretty cheap. Brooke wanted to get a basinet that she found until Natalie pointed out that nobody really used basinets anymore but she did buy the very trendy (yet practical) diaper bag that Brooke found for her.

Their amount of cash was spent after that so they were forced to stop looking (Brook nearly had to haul Natalie away from a display of baby girl clothes) and once they had managed to squish everything into the backseat of Brooke's car, she asked, "So have you thought at all of what it might be?"

Natalie shook her head. "No, but I guess I'm on the fence about it. I mean, Cynthia wants it to be a girl, so she can play with it but if it's a boy, I'm sure it's going to take after Keith."

"And it better," said Brooke, " 'cause any son of Keith's is gonna be so _damn_ cute!"

Natalie laughed. "Yeah, that's true." Yet, to herself she thought_, but then every time I see him, I'll only see Keith._

"When will you find out for sure?"

"During my fifth month."

"Really? That late, huh?"

"Well, everything has to grow first."

"Yeah, that's true. Well since there's a vote going on, I vote for it to be a girl 'cause we could take her shopping and play dress up."

Natalie smiled, figuring that this would be Brooke's choice anyway."Okay."

"But, then again," said Brooke thoughtfully, "a little boy would be fun to mess with."

Natalie rolled her eyes at her friend's indecision. "So, you're kind of indifferent then?"

"Yeah, I guess I am!"

And the two of them laughed at this as they headed for home.

* * *

Caroline and Cynthia were waiting for them when Brooke pulled into Natalie's driveway and they helped bring everything into the house.

"Oh, I love the mobile!" Cynthia exclaimed. "It's so cute! Can we put it up now?"

"We need a crib before we can do that," said Natalie. To her mother, she asked, "Where are we gonna put all this stuff, Mom?"

"Just in the guest bedroom for now," Caroline replied. "We'll have to clean everything out of the closet later and put it in the basement." She glanced at their purchases on the table and sighed heavily. "We still have so much stuff to get. I wished I'd kept some of your guys' baby clothes."

"You could go to garage sales," Brooke suggested. "People are always getting rid of baby stuff and plus, it'll be cheap. And there's always the baby shower and she'll get a ton of stuff there." Her eyes widened and she grabbed Natalie's hand as she exclaimed. "That reminds me! I still have to plan that! Oh my god, I'm a horrible friend!"

"Relax, Brooke," Natalie said calmly, "you have plenty of time and besides, you don't have to throw me one until you know what it is, anyway."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Positive and besides, you have Norte Dame to worry about. Now, go home before your parents send out an Amber Alert!" she ordered her suddenly. "You've done enough already! Go!"

"Yeah, I guess I'd better be heading home," Brooke sighed. "Okay, well, call me whenever. Today was a lot of fun, Nat!"

"It sure was! See ya later!"

* * *

A few days later, Natalie was cleaning out the guest bedroom closet when the phone rang. As she ran to answer it, she wondered briefly what she would say if it was Raff but she didn't have to wonder long when she looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Henry.

"Hi, Henry!" she said happily into the phone.

"Hey, Natalie," he answered. "You sound surprised."

"Oh, well, I just wasn't expecting you to call like this, but I'm glad you did! What's up?"

"I just wanted to call and see how you were doing," Henry replied. "Anything new going on at all? Forgive for being the prying grandparent." He added jokingly.

Natalie laughed. "No, you're not prying at all!" She gave him a quick summaries of her and Brooke's shopping adventures and when she had finished, Henry said, "Well, you certainly had a quite a day. Do you have any more thoughts on college?"

"I definitely want to go but I don't think I can because I'll be so exhausted from taking care of the baby and I don't want my parents to have to take of it all the time."

"I don't want you to bite off more than you can chew but I'll just give a little piece of advice," Henry said. "There are colleges that are all online now or at least have a majority of classes online if that is consideration. Again, just something to think about."

"Really? Wow! Thanks for the tip, Henry, I appreciate it." And she really did too, she had never thought that there were colleges that were _totally_ online and she made a mental note to do some research on it later.

"Speaking of college," Henry continued, "how are you with all of your friends getting ready for college and you, well aren't?"

"I guess it didn't really hit me until today," Natalie confessed, "but I think I already know that I'm going to be so lonely and I'm kind of scared by it."

"I'm sure it's going to be a big adjustment at first," said Henry "but think of what you're going to have in a few months time! I was actually just thinking about this yesterday. Even though you are young to be a mother, I think that this baby is Keith's present to you. I know that probably sounds really cheesy and corny but I really do think it's true, Natalie. You can't imagine what you did for Keith during his treatments and later on when he was dying. If anything, you helped him live his life more fully than he had before. Because before he met you, he seemed to have given up on life and…and was waiting to die." There was a catch in his voice as he finished and Natalie felt tears begin to well up in her own eyes.

Finally, Henry cleared his throat and continued. "So, anyway, my point is is that Keith gave you this baby to make sure that you wouldn't be lonely after he was gone and it was the one thing that he could give you even though he was dead. Does that make sense?"

Natalie was crying softly by this point and she was glad that she was alone in the living room. Yet she managed to smile as she replied, "Yes, Henry, that makes _perfect_ sense."

**Author's Note: So, there my interpretation of the story's title. Oh and since I had the discussion of gender, I am putting up to a vote for you guys, my awesome reviewers to decide since like Natalie, I'm on the fence about it. At first I wanted it to be a girl (since I am one) and I know several little girls who are just adorable but then I thought it could be a boy so it would look like Keith. But anyway, I am leaving it up to you guys but the final decision if it's a tie will be with me. Oh and when you send in your vote, PLEASE give some name ideas as well, I have a few in mind but not many, so I'd really appreciate the reviews!**


	13. Love and Hate

**Author's Note: Hello, all! I'm sorry I haven't updated this story in awhile but as you probably saw, I've started another Keith fic which I urge you to take a look at since it's an AU fic. **

**Thank you to everyone who voted on the gender and gave me names! I really do appreciate it! You won't found out what the gender is going to be until it is actually born, so sorry about that! **

**Anyway, here is the long awaited next chapter. Hope it's not too short and please review!**

Chapter 13

Love and Hate

The rest of the summer seemed to fly by after that. Yet the only thing that really changed was the size of Natalie's abdomen, which in all truthfulness did not change that much. Dr. Covington assured her over and over that every woman's body was different and some didn't even get the usual 'baby bump' even into their ninth month but that did not necessarily mean that there was anything wrong with the baby.

To Natalie, it felt like she had been pregnant forever but she tried not to think this too often as she knew she still had a long way to go. So she continued with her daily routine of eating right (she discovered that she had a craving for strawberries) and steadily buying more baby things with her mom, Cynthia and Brooke.

With getting ready for the baby keeping her occupied, August seemed to fly by and before she knew it, she was seeing Brooke off before she and her parents squeezed themselves into the packed minivan.

"I'm going to try and call you every week and see how you're doing," Brooke promised as she gave Natalie yet another hug. "I've got a long Christmas break, so we'll definitely do your baby shower then, how's that sound?"

"Great," said Natalie as she blinked back tears. The longing to accompany her friend in her college adventures was at its strongest now….along with some slight jealousy as well.

_No!_ She yelled at herself. _Don't think like that! Your turn for college will come soon enough! _So she forced a smile on her face and gave Brooke one last hug before she leapt into the crowded backseat of her van.

* * *

Later, at home, Natalie was sitting on her bed, looking through her senior yearbook and trying her hardest to keep from crying even though she knew she was alone.

As she skimmed through the smiling faces of her class, she couldn't help but think that all of them would be heading off to college today like Brooke was, or if they weren't they were getting ready to. Or if they weren't doing that, they were at least doing something with their lives other than sitting at home, watching their stomach get bigger and bigger. She would've given anything to join in their fun and excitement, if only to not feel so left out as she did now.

Her bitterness and hurt intensified as she turned the page and saw Keith staring back at her with a boyish smirk playing on his lips. That smirk had always made her heart flutter and her spirit soar but now, it looked as if he was mocking her, as he were saying, See partner, I'm still making as miserable as I was and I'm dead! Ha ha! You can't go to college like I can't, how's that for irony, huh? At these thoughts, Natalie promptly slammed her fist angrily into his picture. "Damn you, Keith!" she yelled at it. "Why the hell did you have to die and leave me like this? It's all because of you that I'm like this! Pregnant and not able to go to college 'cause I have to stay home and take care of our frickin' kid! No, wait a minute, it's _my_ kid and not yours because you just _had_ to get cancer and die and leave me all alone! Wow, some boyfriend _you_ are!" she ended sarcastically, still seething with anger. "God, Keith, I hate you so much right now!" she continued, softer this time but still upset. "I hate you for choosing me as your lab partner, I hate you for coming up with that stupid plan for making my life miserable…'cause it sure as hell is miserable now!" And she paused to glare at his smirking face before she continued, "And especially hate you for falling in love with me and not deciding to use a damn condom! God, I just hate you, Keith!"

She would've launched into another tirade against him had a voice not said softly, "Natalie, are you all right?"

Her head shot up at the question and for one instant she thought that it was Keith himself, back to visit her until she realized that it was far from evening and she wasn't even asleep yet. In fact, she was very much awake and was able to see that the person, who had spoken, was in fact, Zach.

"Hi," she said weakly.

"Hi," he answered, looking worried. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's—" she began but then shook her head vigorously. "No, no, everything is _not_ okay! Everything is wrong!"

"I figured somethin' was up, 'cause I heard you yelling and obviously no one's in here," said Zach as he stepped further into her room. "What's up, Nat?" he asked gently as he sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Brooke left for Norte Dame today," Natalie explained, "and when I got back here, I just started thinking about how everyone in my class is going away to college and I—I can't." She wiped at her eyes then as she felt tears begin to leak out, determined not to cry in front of her brother. She went on to tell about how angry she had become when she had see Keith's picture and how she felt horrible for hating him and making her pregnant.

When she finished, Zach said calmly. "I think it's normal to hate Keith for dying, Nat. That's how everyone feels when someone they love dies, even I miss him sometimes and I didn't even know him as half as well as you did."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and while you were with Henry, planning Keith's funeral, Cynthia was a wreck."

Natalie's eyes widened. "She was? Oh, god, I had no idea."

"Of course you didn't and that's okay 'cause you had your grieving to deal with," her brother assured her. "We all did in a way, but I think yours was stronger and deeper and it took longer for you to move on, obviously since he was your boyfriend and all."

Knowing that he was completely right, Natalie asked instead. "Did you hear me yelling then?"

"About how much you hated Keith?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I did and I don't think you should feel guilty about hating him…since I think part of it is your raging hormones," and he flashed her a small smile when he finished.

"You're probably right, Zach," Natalie agreed "along with feeling left out about Brooke going off to college…but my turn for college will come eventually."

"And when that times comes, I'll see you off with a parade!" Zach announced as he leapt to his feet.

"Oh, shut up! You'd miss me, you know you would!"

"No, I wouldn't 'cause I'd have my nephew to corrupt!"

"Oh, you're so sure it's gonna be a boy, huh?" Natalie asked as she closed her yearbook and got up as well.

"Yeah, at least it better be or I'll never hear the end of it from Cynthia," Zach answered. "Although," he added as he walked out of her room, with Natalie following close behind, "maybe a little girl would be easier to corrupt since her dad isn't around to tell me off."

"Oh, but her mom is," Natalie threatened teasingly. "And she's not gonna be too happy if her uncle corrupts her any way, shape or form and will hate him forever."

Zach laughed. "You couldn't hate me, Nat! I'm your brother!"

"Love and Hate go hand in hand, Zach," Natalie replied. "Especially when it comes to siblings."

"And boyfriends," added Zach.

And Natalie smiled in agreement.

* * *

It was amazing to her how much Zach could make her feel better at her most difficult of times. In a way, he reminded her of Keith in the sense that it only took some rational sense and calm, encouraging words to cheer her up and that evening, she was perusing her yearbook yet again and this time when she reached Keith's picture, she smiled.

As August turned into September and Natalie was left home alone, she ended up taking Henry's advice and searching for an entirely online college. But while she was conducting her searches, she more often distracted by finding her way onto various name dictionary sites. She would spend hours reading through lists of names and finding their meanings. Not she was going to pick her and Keith's child's name, specifically on its meaning but it was interesting nonetheless.

But after every search, she was very overwhelmed and was no closer to even making a list of just possibilities.

But even though she didn't know it, then, she would not be alone in her name search for long.

**Author's Note: Ohhhh, cliffy! Ha! As you can obviously see, the next chapter is going to be the naming scene and yes, Keith is going to make an appearance (it just wouldn't feel complete without him!) so I will try to update as soon as I can. Again, I hope this wasn't too short and please review!**


	14. A Name for Peanut

**Author's Note: Well, here's the chapter that everyone's been eager to see, I'm sure, the naming scene! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile but I've working on my other Keith fic, The Color Yellow and I also started school again and have been very busy. **

**I will tell you that they don't decide on two final names in this chapter, but they do come up with a lot of good choices (some of which you guys suggested) and this chapter is pretty funny, I even laughed out loud myself! So enjoy and please review!**

**Oh and since Natalie's Keith dream takes up most of the chapter, I am only italicizing one line where it starts. **

Chapter 14

A Name for Peanut

After her talk with Zach, Natalie felt much more cheerful and resolved that she would never allow herself to lose control again and if she did, she would blame it on her hormones.

Since her one sided shouting match, she had made it a point to look at Keith's yearbook picture whenever she felt down or unsure about the months ahead. Now, instead of a mocking smirk, he smiled affectionately up at her and seemed to say, _It's all right, partner, everything's gonna be all right._

And she knew it would be.

True to her word, Brooke called nearly every weekend and gave her 'the scoop' on college life, telling her about everything from her classes to her roommate problems.

"I mean, not to say that I _don't_ party 'cause I do," said Brooke during one of their talks. "But, _come on_! You stay out till three when you have an eight o'clock the next morning?! I mean, seriously, and she's a LAW student! I wish you were my roommate, Nat."

"I don't think that'd be a good thing," said Natalie, "we'd probably kill each other by the end of the first week."

"Or I'd kill you because you'd be Miss All Work and No Play," said Brooke. They both laughed at that and then Brooke asked, "So, what have you been up to?"

"Reading baby name books."

"Really? Any favorites?"

"Not really, it's hard 'cause I've never really thought about it before."

"Well, you better start thinking about it!"

"Don't worry, I am!" Natalie laughed.

"Has anyone suggested anything?"

"No, but I haven't really asked them."

"You should! It's always good to get a second opinion on important stuff like that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

Although, Natalie didn't know it then, she was going to get some help on the matter from two very different people.

* * *

The first came at the end of August. Natalie had just woken up from a nap when Cynthia barged into a room and announced, "Natalie, I have a present for you."

"Haven't you heard of knocking?" she replied with a groan.

"Yes, but this is important," Cynthia said as she brandished a piece of paper at her older sister. "This is your ultimate list for baby names that I have made up myself from some very good sources."

"Okay, let's see it." She grabbed the paper and scanned the list while Cynthia sat down on her bed, looking very pleased with herself.

Finally, Natalie said. "Cynthia, these names are all from _Hannah Montana_, _High School Musical_ and…_Twilight_? Since when have you read _Twiligh_t?"

"One of my friends gave it to me," Cynthia replied. "She said it was really good and it is! Edward is _so_ amazing!"

"Edward is fictional."

"I _know_ that!"

"Well, then you're one of the few fans who do," Natalie told as she folded up the list. "I'll look these over more carefully later. Thanks for making it for me."

"You're welcome!" said Cynthia as she leapt to her feet. "And when you're done, tell me which ones you like best, okay?"

"I will," she answered with an assuring smile. She waited until Cynthia was safely out of her room before she crossed off nearly all of the _Twilight_ and _Hannah Montana_ names (Emmett? Jasper? Oliver? What were these writers thinking? Did they live in the twenty-first century or the 1800's?) and then perused the rest of the names and debated with herself on which ones sounded halfway decent while knowing that there were a billion other names that she had yet to look at. Finally, after a nearly an hour, she threw the list across her room in frustration, feeling completely at a loss with the entire process and desperate for some help.

Help, it turned out, arrived that very night.

* * *

That evening, when Natalie crawled into bed, she was sure that she had never felt more exhausted which was very strange since she had done hardly anything the entire day. She pulled the covers completely over her head, intent on getting a good night's sleep.

"_Natalie? Natalie, are you in here?" Keith's voice called out, rather close to her ear._

"Keith," Natalie groaned in response. "I'm sorry but not tonight, please."

He didn't pay any attention to her excuse because as soon as the words had left her mouth, her comforter was yanked off of her and she looked up into Keith's grinning face,

"There you are!" he exclaimed. "I knew you were under there somewhere! And how's my pumpkin love this evening?" he asked as he threw the blanket into a corner and climbed up on her bed.

"My back hurts," she replied pitifully, "and I can feel a cramp in my leg coming on but I really don't want to get up."

"That's all normal, right?"

"Uh-huh, it's all 'cause I'm moving into my second trimester."

"Oh, would you like me to rub your back?"

She glanced up at him. "Would you?"

"Sure, it's what I'm here for, to make you feel better," he answered. "Now, roll over on your side."

Natalie did as she was told and soon she felt Keith's fingertips gently probe her lower back and begin to move in slow, soothing circles. After a few minutes of this, he used his hand to lightly massage her in rhythmic circles and as he gently applied more pressure occasionally, Natalie felt the pain ease and eventually drift away.

Yet the experience had nearly caused her to drift off to sleep again and not wanting this to happen, she opened her eyes wide and sat up slowly. Then she looked at Keith and said, "That was wonderful, where did you learn to do that?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's really not that hard, I could feel where you were really tense so I just relaxed it."

"You sure did! I feel so much better!" she said with a laugh.

"Good, I'm glad 'cause I hate seeing you in pain like that," he said. "Want me to do anything else before we get down to business?"

"I could really go for some water, but I can get it my—" Natalie started to say, but Keith held up a finger and said firmly. "No, you stay right there, partner and I'll be right back." And before she could protest further, he had disappeared through the doorway.

Not only did he arrive with a glass of water for her, five minutes later, but also a fresh carton of strawberries, a bag of Cheetos and a Fresca.

"You like Cheetos?" Natalie asked after she had nearly drained the entire glass of water the moment he had handed it to her.

"Who _doesn't _like Cheetos, partner?" he inquired in reply as he flung himself into her desk chair and viciously ripped open the bag.

"Apparently, just me," she answered. "I don't like how the cheese gets on my fingers."

"Aw, that's the best part!" said Keith, around a mouthful of them.

"It's disgusting."

"It's tasty! And cheesy!"

Natalie shook her head. "Okay, whatever, Keith, but I'm gonna stick to my healthy snack."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Suit yourself."

They ate in silence after that (at least in Natalie's case, since Keith seemed to make as much noise as he could with his Cheetos) and when she had eaten nearly all the strawberries, she asked, "So, what's this 'business' that we have to 'get down' to?"

"Peanut's gotta have a name, doesn't he?" Keith asked. He paused to lick his fingers of cheese dust before he added, "or she."

"You mean, you came here just to help me pick a name?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I?"

"Oh, Keith, thank you!"

He grinned at her. "There's no need to thank me, honeybun, did you think I was gonna leave the naming of my kid entirely up to you? Not that I don't trust you, of course, but I like to have my say."

"Well, to tell you the truth, I was starting to wonder whether you would show up again…but it doesn't matter because you're here now."

"Yup! So, toss me one of those baby name books."

She placed the now empty strawberry carton on the floor and handed him _60,000 Baby Names_ while she settled back onto her bed to leaf through the _100,000 _edition. She had checked both books out from the library earlier that week.

Before she had even opened the thick book, Keith asked, "So, did your family come up with any names?"

"Actually, Cynthia made a whole list," she told him as she took the folded page out from where she had marked a particular page. As she handed it to him she added, "I crossed most of them off 'casue they were too old-fashioned."

"And just plain stupid," said Keith as he perused it. "Although, Emily's a nice name but considering it's been the top name for like, twenty years now, I figure a lot of people must have it and I kinda want my kid to have a name that's not, you know really popular."

Natalie only nodded in agreement as she had turned back to her book. A comfortable silence fell on them, then, disrupted only by the occasional turning of a page. Finally, Natalie said, "For a boy, what about Charlie? It's easy and not too common."

"No," said Keith flatly.

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why? And don't say 'because I said so'!"

"YouTube," said Keith simply.

"What? What the hell does _YouTube_ have to do with anything?"

"Not YouTube itself," he clarified, "just certain videos on YouTube that have the name Charlie in them." He looked at her, expectantly.

"What?" she finally asked. "What videos?"

He raised his eyebrows and a devilish smirk began to form on his lips then. "You mean you really haven't seen them?" And Natalie had just begun to shake her head when he screeched at the top of his lungs. "CHARRRRLIE! We're going to Candy Mountain, Charrrlie! It's a land of sweets and joy and joyness."

"Oh, god!" Natalie groaned. "I have seen that video, Zach made me watch that stupid thing!"

"Shun the non believer!" Keith shirked in reply. "Shuunnnnnnnnnnnn!"

"Okay, Keith, I get the point. You can stop now."

"C'mon, Charlie! It'll be an adventure! We're going on an adventure, Charrrlie!"

"Keith, shut up!"

"Or if you prefer," said Keith in his normal voice. "Charlie BIT ME! And it WEALLY hurt!" He yelled in a surprisingly good British accent.

"Seriously, Keith! _Shut up_!"

"Sorry," he said in mock apology. "I just couldn't help it. I'm easily amused by those things."

"I can tell."

"Although, I do think that whoever made that Charlie the Unicorn video was on some serious crack…or LSD."

"Probably," Natalie agreed as she stared at her book.

After that, silence fell on them again, Natalie managed to find some names that she liked and wrote them down on a piece of paper to ask Keith's opinion later on. When they spoke again, it was Keith who started the conversation.

"You know," he began thoughtfully. "We could just call Peanut, Peanut to save ourselves the trouble."

"Because that won't lead to a life of teasing and name calling," said Natalie sarcastically.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Keith agreed. "I guess celebrities' kids don't count then, 'cause I mean they got some pretty wacked names and no one makes fun of them."

"Probably 'cause they're too cute to make fun of."

"Aw, that's just 'cause their parents PhotoShoped the pics beforehand," said Keith.

Natalie shook her head at him and thought, _Keith, you're so cynical about everything_. Aloud she asked, "Find any names you like?"

"Yeah, Soso."

"What the hell kind of a name is _that_?!"

"A Native American one."

"What does it mean?"

" 'Tree squirrel dining on pine nuts'!" Keith answered cheerfully.

"Are you serious?"

"Completely, it also means 'chubby-cheeked baby', which is just perfect!" He looked at her over the top of the thick book, his eyes shining with mirth and she could see the huge smile plastered on his face.

"Actually, it's just stupid."

"No, it's not! It's flippin' hilarious!" He looked down at the page and snickered. "Tree squirrel dining on pine nuts, that's just great!"

"When you're ready to start being serious, I have two more suggestions."

"Okay, let's hear 'em."

"Grace and Jesse."

"Grace is a good one," said Keith, nodding slightly. "It's pretty and simple…but what if she's clumsy?"

"So, what does that matter?"

"She'll be a walking oxymoron!"

Natalie laughed. "Keith, is that the worst thing that can happen?"

"Yeah, it is!" he protested. "It must be really traumatic going through life as a walking oxymoron! And as her dad, I'm not naming my daughter something that could scar her for life!"

Natalie laughed again. "Okay, Keith, you win."

"I'm not saying we shouldn't throw that name away," he added. "I like it a lot but only if she's well, graceful."

"All right, so you like Grace, what about Jesse?"

"Jesse? As in like, short for Jessica?"

"No, like the boy spelling of it, J-E-S-S-E." She paused to think for a moment and then added, "There's a famous singer with that name, Cynthia adores him…god, what is his last name?"

"What, that McCartney kid?" Keith suggested.

"Yeah, that's it! He's really talented, I think and kinda cute."

Keith snorted. "He's a pansy and a pretty boy and no wonder, 'cause his parents gave him such a girly name."

"Jesse is not a _girly_ name! It's a perfectly nice name."

"Okay, name somebody else with that name," Keith challenged.

"There's a character named Jesse in _Tuck Everlasting_."

"Fictional characters don't count."

"Okay, what about that one athlete….Jesse Owens."

"Who's he?"

"He was a runner or something and beat the Nazis at the Olympics."

Keith raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? Well, beating Nazis is pretty sweet and all…but I'm still not giving my kid the same name as flippin' Pretty Boy McCartney."

Natalie sighed heavily then. "God, we're not getting _anywhere_! Why do you have to be so picky?"

"I'm not being picky, I'm being realistic," Keith replied calmly. "I'm thinking of the safety of my child by not giving him a girly name that will only get him pantsed and dragged around the track." Here, he stood up and sat down beside her on her bed and added more softly, "And if we don't decide on two names tonight, then I have completely confidence in you to pick a good one."

Natalie smiled. "Thanks, Keith and by the way, there's a vote going on, do you want to be a boy or a girl?"

He bit his lip in consideration. "A girl," he said in strangely soft voice, "because then she'll be as beautiful as her mother." And here he wrapped his arms around her and drew her into him. Natalie smiled as she laid her against his shoulder but her smile vanished as Keith said suddenly. "Although, if it was a boy then I'd know that you would have someone to take care of you and be a total Mommy's boy."

"Oh, great, so everyone's on the fence then," Natalie groaned and she felt Keith chuckle in reply.

They stayed wrapped in each other's arms for a long time after that until Natalie got the feeling that something was poking her. Not wanting to disrupt Keith who was busy rubbing her back, she slowly reached down and realized that the thing that was poking her was the corner of a piece of paper…in the pocket of Keith's jeans. Slowly, she slid two fingers inside and eased it out.

"Keith, what is this?" she asked as she began to unfold it.

"Oh, that, that's um…" he began but she had already seen it what was before he could explain.

It was a list of names.

"Keith!" she yelled at him. "Do you mean to tell me that while you were suggesting all those stupid names, you've been making this?!"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Then, why didn't you tell me any of them before?"

"Because…because I really wanted to find a good variety and there was so many that I just couldn't keep them all in my head, so I had to write them down. And I really wanted to find some good ones," he told her. "So, read it and let me know what you think."

She looked at him for a moment, still slightly upset but then eventually looked at the paper in her hand and read the following:

Abigail

Nathan

Katelyn

Billy

Tara

Max

"Keith, these are wonderful," she said when she finished reading.

"Really? You don't think they're too boring?"

"No, I like all of them. I can't believe you put Billy's name on here though."

"Yeah, but he was such a cool little guy and I—I think he would like it."

"I think he would too."

Then, they resumed their hugging and Natalie smiled contently as Keith rubbed her back, she felt so relaxed and safe that she didn't the moment to end, as she was sure she had wished so many times before when Keith had visited her.

"Hey, Keith," she whispered after a few moments.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything, for coming to see me like this and telling everything's going to be okay."

"No need to thank me, partner, I would've done it anyway even if you weren't pregnant."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh, I miss you so much when I'm not here. But you know, I can't come see you and Peanut forever."

"Yeah, I figured that," said Natalie with sigh. "But let's not think about that right now, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan, partner."

**Author's Note: I'm sorry if anyone really hates the Charlie the Unicorn or the Charlie Bit Me! videos but I really couldn't resist. You won't find out what Natalie decides to name until later on, unfortunately but I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review!**


	15. Good News

**Author's Note: First off, HUGE apology for not updating in over a month. Please don't kill me, but I sort of had writer's block with this story and was busy updating other fics as well as stressing about midterms. **

**So anyway, in this chapter, you'll get to find out the gender of Peanut so I hope I don't disappoint anyone with the gender that I picked. Hope you enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 15

Good News

After the discovery of Keith's name list, Natalie decided that no matter what she would chose a name for their baby from it. The only problem was that there were so many good ones that she didn't know which one to chose. But she decided that that could be saved for a later time, so she laid it on top of her desk and then sat back down on her bed next to Keith.

With their mission accomplished (or at least partly) they spent the next few hours looking up random names and telling each other their meanings. Natalie was just beginning to get a little bored when Keith yelled somewhat angrily. "Are you flipping _kidding _me?!"

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked instantly.

"Nothin', 'cept my name has the dumbest meaning EVER!"

"What is it?"

"Wood."

"_Wood_?"

"Yes, wood, frickin' _wood_ as in like a forest, what kind a meaning is _that_?!" He didn't give her time to come with an answer as he added stiffly. "A stupid one, that's what."

As he began to fume at the meaning of his name, Natalie flipped to the 'K' section of her own book and discovered that 'Keith' did indeed mean 'wood' but it also meant something else too and she told him so.

"Keith, you didn't read far enough," she said as she showed him the page. "Your name also means 'battlefield' and 'dwells in the woods'."

"Really? Well, those ones are better, but I still don't like 'wood'." He picked up his own book again and riffled through for a moment before he cried. "See! Even your name has a cooler meaning than mine!"

"What is it?"

" 'Christmas Day' or 'to be born on Christmas Day', " he read aloud and then promptly demanded. "Why do you get the cool one?!"

"It would've been cooler if my birthday actually was_ on_ Christmas," said Natalie, "Instead of being May twenty-sixth." *

"Actually, I think having your birthday on Christmas would kinda suck," Keith mused, " 'cause then you get all your presents at once and you don't get to look forward to some other unexciting part of the year to get dumped with stuff."

"That's true, although maybe if your birthday is on Christmas, you get _double_ the amount of presents?" Natalie wondered.

"Maybe," Keith said with a shrug. " 'Course then you just look spoiled."

"Totally."

They looked names for a little while longer until Natalie started to get tired. She tried not to let Keith see because she didn't want him to leave but he did anyway and insisted that she go to bed and that he had stayed longer than he should have anyway.

"C'mon, partner," he coaxed. "You need to get lots of sleep 'casue once Peanut's here, you're not gonna get any!" He ended with a devilish smirk which Natalie found incredibly annoying. Nevertheless, she moved the baby name books off of her bed. Once she had climbed in, much to her surprise and delight, Keith tucked in her and kissed her cheek affectionately. "Good night, partner," he whispered. "I'll come back soon, don't you worry."

"I'm not worried at all, Keith," she answered with a contented sigh. "Good night. I love you."

"Love you too, honeybun."

* * *

Thanks to Keith's help, her list of baby names had narrowed considerably and the moment that she woke up the next morning, she wrote them down so she wouldn't forget them.

The next few months she was certain, were the happiest that she had had during her pregnancy. What with the shock of finding out that she was pregnant so soon after Keith's death, to telling her friends and family, to the various spats with Raff and finally to the stress of school and what she was going to do with her life, it had all been a very stressful three months.

But since Keith's most recent visit, her spirits had never been higher and she threw herself into keeping herself that way in mind and body, especially body for Peanut's health and well being.

One of the first things she decided was that she had spent enough time lying around the house since it would only lead to insanity from boredom and it wasn't as if she was getting anything accomplished for Peanut's arrival at home, besides the minimal things that she bought with Brooke. So, taking the advice that Henry had given her awhile ago, she signed up for a few community college courses that were all online in order to kill a few hours each day. Once that was done, she began searching for a job so she could get out of the house once in awhile and managed to find one at a local bookstore whose hours were flexible which Natalie was grateful for since as she progressed she didn't know how she would be feeling from day to day.

And so the months flew by and in the middle of October, Natalie found herself in Dr. Covington's office once more. She was 'showing' now yet only enough that she looked like she had put on some weight. Yet, apparently it was enough to be able to tell what gender Peanut would be.

"I'm really nervous, Mom," said Natalie, breaking the silence that had filled the room since they had been shown in ten minutes ago.

"Honey, there's nothing to be nervous about," her mom replied calmly. "If anything, you should be excited! You're finally going to find out if it's a girl or a boy!"

"I know but…I wish Keith was here to find out too."

"Of course you do, sweetheart."

Just then, Dr. Covington entered the room with her ever-present smile on her face. "Hello, Natalie! How have you been?"

"Pretty good, thanks."

"Well, you sure look good and you're starting to show and that's good sign." She paused and then asked, "So, are you ready to find out the sex?"

"Yeah," said Natalie and she dutifully laid down on the exam table.

The procedure went just as her very first ultrasound had gone, except Natalie was sure was more nervous now than she had been then. She kept her gaze fixed on the monitor as the black and white image of her baby finally came into view.

Natalie stared, transfixed at the screen for several long seconds. She only vaguely heard Dr. Covington remark jokingly, "Well, that's certainly an improvement."

It certainly was. For one thing, Peanut was no longer a peanut but a (at least partially) full grown person. Natalie could clearly make out a head, nose and a tiny hand that seemed to wave at her. Smiling shyly, Natalie wiggled her fingers back at her Peanut.

"Looks like she's saying 'hello' to you, Natalie," said Dr. Covington. At her words, Natalie looked up at her doctor so fast that she nearly kinked her neck. "Sh—she?" she repeated in a voice just above a whisper.

Her doctor nodded. "Yup, you've got a little girl in there."

"Oh, Nat, Cynthia's going to be thrilled," Caroline laughed from somewhere above her.

Natalie smiled, not at her mother's comment, but at the fact that now she knew she was having a girl, she knew exactly what her name would be.

* * *

When they got home fifteen minutes later, the rest of their family was waiting in the living room.

"Well," asked Pete when they entered, "am I going to have a granddaughter or grandson?"

Natalie's smile widened; she'd been positively glowing since she left Dr. Covington's office. "It's a girl, Dad."

At the word 'girl', Cynthia squealed in delight as she leapt and hugged her tightly. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Yay! I was right, wasn't I, Nat?" she asked, looking up at her adoringly.

"Yup, you were right, Cynthia."

"You bet I was, the aunt always knows!" Cynthia declared and she let go of Natalie to look at Zach and held out her hand. "I was right, Zach so pay up!"

He blinked in surprise. "Pay up? Pay up what?"

"The ten dollars you bet me, remember?"

"Cynthia, we made that bet like four months ago!"

"So?"

"So, aren't you just happy that Natalie's having a girl?"

"Yes…but I still want ten dollars."

Zach mumbled something incoherent as he fished around in his pockets for the money. As he did, he glanced up at the ceiling and said, "Why'd you have to cost me, Keith? Why? You just _had_ to make my little sister happy, didn't you?"

"Don't yell at Keith!" said Cynthia as Zach handed her a ten dollar bill. "It was Natalie who made her baby be a girl!" She grinned at her brother as she pocketed the money and then ran out of the room and up the stairs.

When she was gone, Zach looked at Natalie. "Think we outta tell her that it's the guy who decides the sex?"

Natalie shook her head, smiling. "She'll find out eventually and by then, she won't care either way."

* * *

That evening, Natalie called Brooke and told her the news and she nearly had the same reaction as Cynthia except it was much louder and Natalie had to hold the phone away from her ear as she screamed. "OH MY GOD! We have another shopping buddy! Oh, it's gonna be so much FUN!" She paused and then added, "Oh, this means I can start planning your shower and it'll be pink!"

"Not everything, I hope," said Natalie.

"Yes, _everything_, you're having a girl so it has to be pink!"

"But pink is so…boring."

"It is not _boring_!" yelled Brooke. "It's perfect for a girl besides it's not like she's here yet, so she won't know the difference."

"True."

"Well, if you don't like pink, what color were you thinking?"

"Yellow," she answered, remembering Keith's truck.

"Yellow?! Are you trying to blind everyone?"

"Not a really bright yellow, just a nice sunny yellow."

"Okay, Nat, I'll try, just be prepared for lots of pink and trust me on this, okay?"

"I will, Brooke, I have complete faith in you."

"Good, I'm glad."

They ended up planning Natalie's shower for sometime around Thanksgiving. Much to Natalie's dismay, Brooke asked to talk to Caroline and they spent a good twenty minutes talking, presumably about the shower, but Natalie couldn't know as she had been shooed from the room. She would have been perturbed by this had she not realized that she had one other person to tell her new news to.

Henry.

He picked up on the second ring and Natalie quickly swallowed down her sudden nervousness and said, "Henry, I've got some news for you. I found what I'm going to have today."

"Really?" he asked, perking up. "And?"

"I'm going to have a girl."

"Oh, Natalie," he sighed. "That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you! Keith would be ecstatic!"

"You think so? I would've thought he would've wanted a boy so they could work on cars together."

"Oh, yes," Henry assured her. "He wouldn't want me telling you this but the young girls at the hospital simply adored him as much as the boys did. There was this one little girl, I think her name was Laura and she had cancer like him, but hers was very aggressive so she had to have a lot of chemo. She loved those Chronicles of Narnia books and I mean, she _loved _them. So she was really excited when the movie came out but she was too sick to go see it. So, Keith surprised her by coming over to visit and read the book to her because as he said, 'The book is _always_ better than the movie!' " He chuckled then at the memory and Natalie smiled, imagining the sweet scene.

"But I thought Keith hated reading," she said after a short pause.

"He did, he thought it was boring and that it made him even more tired. But he grew to like it because as he told me, there was only so many times he could count ceiling tiles and still keep his sanity."

Natalie laughed out loud then. That seemed so much like something Keith would say and do to avoid reading. She had tried to convince him that reading wasn't supposed to be a chore and that any book could be just as exciting as a movie, but her attempts were futile.

"Oh, there's more to the story about Keith and Laura," said Henry, breaking into her thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"So, after he finished reading the book to her, he somehow got hold of a laptop and got onto one of those free movie sites and they watched it! And this was when it was still in theaters!"

"Oh my gosh!" Natalie laughed. "He actually did that?! Isn't that illegal?"

"You bet it is, but Keith's justification for it was that he was already dying so he might as do something illegal and be a rebel before he went and besides, Laura didn't stop talking about if for days. So he was happy he did it and most importantly for me, he had fun too."

"Well, that's always a good thing."

"It was and ever since then he would always try and bring her something that had to do with the Narnia movie. Her face would brighten up whenever she saw him." And Natalie could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. She was grateful then when Henry started talking because she didn't want to have to ask if Laura had succumbed to her cancer like Keith had.

"So, anyway, sorry for that tangent there but like I said before, Keith would be ecstatic that you are having a girl. I don't think he would've admitted it but he was really good with kids. Maybe it was because he spent so much time with them, being in the hospital but he could always do or say something that would make them feel better and I think they looked up to him…literally and figuratively," he finished jokingly.

Natalie didn't realize she was crying until she wiped a tear from her cheek. She could just imagine Keith wanting to make the younger kids happy before himself and her love for him grew even deeper with this new knowledge.

She told him about the shower that was going to be around Thanksgiving and he promised that he would come, saying that he would have to think an extra good present for her. She tried to tell him that he didn't need to bother but he insisted so she gave up after that, figuring that he was going to get her something whether she wanted him to or not.

Although she privately admitted to herself that she was excited for her baby shower (if only it was because she would see Brooke) she was also nervous as to what Brooke had in store for it. She knew that she would never want to embarrass her but Brooke had been known to things to the extreme on more than one occasion.

Knowing that the situation was out of her hands, all she could do was wait and see what unfolded.

**Author's Note: I know, I know, horrible slight cliffy after I've taken so long in updating, but I have the rest of it written in the second part so you can expect the next chapter towards the end of the week or so. In the meantime, please review!**

*** Elisabeth Harnois' actual birthday :)**


	16. Shower Surprises

**Author's Note: Here's the baby shower chapter! One of the fastest updates for me on this site. Thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter and I'm glad you are excited that she's having a girl (especially the two that used their names voted for a boy!) Anyway, hope you like the chapter, it's very fluffy and please review!**

Chapter 16

Shower Surprises

Thanksgiving came more quickly than Natalie would've liked, only because she was so busy during the weeks leading up to it. Now that she knew she was having a girl, the shopping trips with her mother and Cynthia were more productive and fun and they came with armloads of bags each time. Caroline also took it upon herself to supervise the remodeling of the guest room which Pete and Zach were going to paint.

"Mom, do you have to do this now?" Natalie asked one day, watching as her mom peered over pink paint samples. "We've got plenty of time still."

"Honey, we've got two holidays to plan for and I want to have everything set at least by the beginning of January," her mom replied curtly.

"I'm not due till February!"

"The_ beginning_ of February, Nat which gives us only a month. You'll thank me when the time comes, trust me."

Natalie rolled her eyes but decided that there was no point in arguing since she knew that her mom was right.

* * *

"You don't look pregnant at all!" Brooke exclaimed the moment Natalie opened the door, two days before Thanksgiving which was also the day of her shower. "How many months are you now?"

"Six."

"Well, you don't look a week over four months."

"Thanks."

They spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon setting up for the shower that was set to start at four. Natalie kept asking her mom why she was making so much food since she figured that not a lot of people were coming. But her mom only smiled and said that she might be surprised as to how many people would show up.

As for Brooke, her decorations were much better than Natalie thought they would be. True, there was a lot of pink but she had also managed to incorporate yellow in the form of streamers and when the entire kitchen was festooned with pink and yellow streamers, Natalie couldn't help but smile and hug her friend in gratitude.

And then the guests began to arrive.

In reality, Natalie had only been expecting Henry to come but when the doorbell rang and she answered it, she found Trish and several of her other friends from high school standing on the stoop.

"Brooke told us about you being pregnant," Trish explained as they walked inside. "And since we couldn't come to Keith's funeral, she invited us to your baby shower since, after all, they're a lot more fun than funerals!"

"Even though funeral does have the word 'fun' in it," Robbie joked, "which I never understood _at all_."

While her friends were busy getting food, Henry and an elderly couple arrived who looked overjoyed at seeing her.

"Natalie," said Henry, "This is John and Marian, my parents and Keith's grandparents."

"Oh, wow, it's wonderful to meet you!" said Natalie sincerely as she shook their hands.

"It's wonderful to meet you too, dear," said Marian with a smile. "We live way up north in Wisconsin so we couldn't see Keith very often but we were very aware of his illness."

"Were you at the funeral?" Natalie asked, trying to remember if she had seen them there.

"We came the night before," John replied. "As much as we loved Keith, we just knew we wouldn't be able to handle his funeral, knowing how sick he was."

"Yes, but let's not talk about that," said Marian quickly. "This is a baby shower and baby showers are supposed to be happy!"

Natalie smiled, "Yes, they are and I'm so happy that you're here."

The afternoon went by very fast for Natalie. She tried to divide her time between her group of friends and talking to Keith's grandparents. While she liked hearing her friends' stories of college, she was more eager to listen to Marian's stories of Keith as a child.

"Anything with wheels he loved," she told her during one such story. "We got him a plastic train set once for his fourth birthday, he got tons of other presents but he only wanted to play with that train and push it around the track!" she ended with a laugh.

"He didn't get into trucks until later," John added, "when we took him on a train once when he was still little, I think he realized then how big they were and got scared."

Natalie had to laugh at that. She couldn't imagine Keith being scared of anything, much less a train.

Soon after that, it was time for presents where Natalie got a large assortment of items, many of which she hadn't even thought to buy yet like bottles. She received a huge box of variously sized clothes from Brooke and Trish.

"We figured that since babies grow so fast, we might as well have you set for clothes for at least a year," Brooke explained as Natalie shifted through the pile. "And don't worry, we didn't spend that much, we went a lot of sale days."

Natalie could only shake her head at her friends who looked extremely pleased with themselves. She set the large box aside and moved on to the next present.

She had hoped that Henry would give her his present at the end and when he did not, she was a little disappointed but figured that he had his reasons and would give it to her at a later time.

By the end of it, Natalie was both exhausted and extremely happy. She had seen her friends after what had felt like ages and got to meet some of Keith's family and learn a little more about his past.

Brooke stayed after everyone else had left (including, much to Natalie's disappointment, Henry) and as they washed the dishes, she asked, "So, you'll call me when you go into labor, won't you?"

"Of course, I will! But won't you be school?"

"To hell with school! Supporting you through childbirth is much more important."

"I thought blood made you queasy."

"It does. I won't be in the room with you, but I'll be first one in when she's born, okay?"

"Okay, sounds good."

Just then, Caroline entered the room. "Natalie, Henry's here and he has something for you."

Natalie looked her mother questioningly but she said nothing more so she quickly dried her hands on a dish towel and went to see Henry.

He was sitting on the couch in the living room with a large square package on his lap. He smiled when Natalie sat down beside him and said, "I wanted to give you this when it was just you and me since I wasn't sure how you'd react. This is for both you and the baby and I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will, Henry," said Natalie as she began to tear off the wrapping paper.

The package turned out to be a thick photo album and having an idea as to whose pictures it would contain, she opened it slowly, holding her breath.

And ended up laughing out loud. The picture was of Keith, she knew but he was six months old, according to the caption and looked absolutely adorable. She eagerly flipped the page and found more pictures of him as a baby.

"Oh my god, he's so cute!" she laughed as she looked at them.

"Yeah, he was a pretty cute kid, Sandra just loved taking pictures of him so it was hard to choose the best ones," said Henry.

The smile stayed on her lips as she looked at Keith's baby pictures, knowing that he was probably scowling down at her for doing so and that his dad had actually given her an album of them. But her smile faded as she moved into pictures of him as a child and she asked, "He was blonde when he was younger?"

"More of a dirty blonde when he got older but when he was really young it was completely blonde. It didn't change to dark brown until middle school," Henry explained.

They looked at the rest of the pictures in silence after that. Natalie enjoyed looking at them which were the only glimpses of Keith's life that she had before she met him. Though it did pain her to see the group pictures of Keith and his parents, seeing as two of the three people in them had died long before their time.

Yet those pictures were nothing compared to the ones at the end of the album.

They were Keith's senior pictures.

"He hated taking those," said Henry, the moment Natalie had turned to them. "He thought it was stupid and boring and a waste of time. We had them done when he was in remission so that's why he looks so healthy." He added softly.

Natalie said nothing as she looked at the pictures, much more slowly than she had any of the others, marveling at how they managed to capture Keith's carefree and buoyant spirit. There were even a few pictures with him smiling his trademark crooked smile which nearly made her want to cry and laugh out loud at the same time. But her favorites were the ones where he was posing with his truck, especially because they looked so natural and so…Keith.

"Henry, this is wonderful," she sighed when she had reluctantly closed it on the final page. "This is the best present anyone could have given me and I'm going show to my daughter so she can know how wonderful her dad was."

"I'm glad you like it," said Henry. "My mom actually helped with choosing the pictures and putting them all together, said we all needed something so that we would never forget him."

_Yes_, Natalie thought to herself, _but who would ever forget Keith?_

**Author's Note: Well, I hope the ending wasn't too corny but I've had the idea of Henry giving Natalie an album full of pictures of Keith since I started this story. Hope you liked the chapter and please review!**


	17. Light At the End

**Author's Note: Sorry it took me so long to update, I was a bit stuck on how to continue this chapter and then I got busy and/or was focusing on other projects, but nevertheless, here is the next chapter which contains the start of Natalie going into labor! Enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 17

Light at the End

"You don't think they can induce labor a month early, do you?" Natalie asked her mom, one afternoon in January. She was lying on the couch while she and her mom watched TV.

"Not unless there's something wrong with the baby and even then they wouldn't do it a month early," her mom replied with a sympathetic smile. "I know nine months is a long time but you just have to wait a couple more weeks, Nat."

"God, I'm so sick of being pregnant!" Natalie groaned. "I feel so lazy all the time and I don't want to do anything except lie here. Why can't you grow faster so I can meet you?" she asked in the direction of her nicely rounded stomach.

"She'll be here soon enough," said her mom.

"I know," Natalie sighed. "It's just we have everything ready and the only thing we need is her."

"Speaking of her, won't you tell me her name so I can stop calling her her?" Caroline asked, raising her eyebrows hopefully.

Since she had chosen her daughter's name from Keith's last (partially based on its meaning) she had kept it a secret from the rest of her family, wanting to keep them guessing and knowing that Keith would get a thrill out of keeping the name a secret as well.

At her mom's question, Natalie smiled and shook her head. "No, Mom, I know you probably think you have a right to know being the grandma and all, but you won't find out until she's born and I have to write on the birth certificate."

"Does Henry know?" Caroline asked instantly.

"No, not even he knows. Just trust me, Mom, it's a good one, I swear."

"I'm not worried, Nat, I just want to know what it is!"

"Well, too bad, I'm not saying anything!" Natalie stated firmly and her smile widened in delight at the sight of her mom's disappointed face.

It seemed as if the day after Thanksgiving, the full force of Natalie's pregnancy kicked in. She knew of course that since she was now into her third and final trimester that her body would be going through many changes to prepare for the baby, she just didn't think that they would come all at once. Immediately, she began to feel incredibly lazy and crabby all the time and this wasn't helped by the fact that her stomach was getting bigger and bigger which led to some nasty looking stretch marks. Despite her mom's assurance that these would fade, Natalie hated the sight of them. The worst part however was that she occasionally experienced the 'practice contractions' known as Braxton Hicks. The first time this happened, she panicked and thought she was going into labor since she was home alone but her mom assured her that this was very normal and she would definitely know when she was going into labor.

Natalie wasn't so sure.

She had researched the topic extensively since she didn't trust herself to really 'know' when she was in labor. Did it mean just more painful contractions? Or the actual breaking of her water? Apparently it meant all of these things which made Natalie even more nervous at the thought that her water would break when her parents weren't around and it was during these times that she wished Keith could be with her and soothe her fears.

The only bright to all of the stress and worry was that her dad and Zach had finished remolding the guest room and it was the best nursery that Natalie could've dreamed of. It was, of course painted a light pink and it was simple yet adorable and practical all at once. She loved to sit the rocking chair near the window and daydream about how much her life would change for the better once her daughter was in it. And she still couldn't believe that soon she was going to be someone's mother and that person was going to rely completely on her for everything…and she would do her best to give it to her.

It was during these times when she wanted to be alone that her baby would become the most active, not that she would kick her hard but Natalie could definitely feel that she was moving. And just knowing that her daughter was alive and vibrant within her made all of her worries fade and she was at peace.

Yet these peaceful moments were few and far between as the weeks passed and her due date drew near and so did her anxiety heighten. She didn't know why she was so nervous, probably because she was so young and going to be a mother at seventeen but she had hoped she would be more excited than nervous yet this was not the case. Her nervousness also increased the fact that her _being_ nervous to begin with was not good for her daughter.

In short, she was a wreck.

And so one day while she lying on her bed, desperately trying to clear her head, she must have drifted off to sleep because she soon heard Keith's soothing voice say softly, "Peanut's gonna be just fine, partner and so are you."

_Natalie opened her eyes then to see his green ones staring back at her. She sighed heavily as he took her hand and squeezed it affectionately. "I know, Keith, I'm just so nervous and scared."_

_"Why? There's nothing to be scared of," he said. "Natalie, thousands of women have had kids and I'm sure they all felt the same way."_

_"I know, but I…I just feel so alone."_

_"But you're not gonna be alone…I'm here right now and my dad and your mom will help you," Keith assured as he kissed her hand. Then he stood up, sat down again on her bed and helped her to sit up as well and then she leaned gratefully on his shoulder. They stayed that way for several seconds before Natalie sat up and said, "By the way, Keith, I found out what I'm…we're going to have."_

_"I should hope so since you like you're trying smuggle a basketball under there!" he joked with a smirk._

_She hit him playfully on his arm. "Shut up, I'm not that big!"_

_"Yeah, you are."_

_"_Keith_!"_

_"What?!"_

_"Stop making me feel bad!"_

_"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, I'm trying to make you feel _better_!" He laughed as she continued to hit him._

_"Well, you sure have a funny way of doing it."_

_"Yeah, but don't you feel less nervous now?"_

_She thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, yeah…yeah, I do."_

_"See! There is a method to my madness!" he cried and then asked, "So, what's Peanut gonna be, boy or girl?"_

_"Girl," Natalie told him, trying to keep a straight face since she didn't know how he would react._

_And his mouth literally fell open at the news. "Partner, are you serious?" he breathed._

_"Completely, Keith, why…aren't you happy?"_

_"Happy?" he repeated, shocked. "Natalie, nothing could make me _happier_!" He cried as the largest of smiles spread across his face. "A little girl, god this is great!"_

_"Guess I was wrong in thinking you would've wanted a boy," said Natalie._

_Keith rolled his eyes at that. "Aw, boys are overrated, but girls…I mean, what's not to love? Until they're teenagers, that is." He smiled at that but then asked more seriously, "So, did you pick a name for…her yet?"_

_"I did, actually," Natalie replied somewhat proudly._

_"And…?"_

_Here, she leaned over and whispered it into his ear, even though there was no one else around. When she pulled away, she saw him looking back at her with a mixture of awe and immense happiness. "Partner…that name, it's absolutely beautiful." He whispered._

_"Really?"_

_"Really. I love it; I don't think there's a better one out there for her."_

_"Well, you picked it so I figured you would love it."_

_"Yeah, but I didn't think about how good it would really sound," he admitted. There was a pause before he said, suddenly serious, "I wish I could be here, partner, I wish I could help you take care of her and be her dad and be the hu, er boyfriend that you really need. I'd give anything to be alive again, Natalie."_

_"I know, Keith, I'd give anything to, and this is gonna sound corny but I know that you're always gonna be watching over us, right?"_

_"You bet I am, partner, you bet I am," he promised as he enveloped her in his arms and kissed her oh so tenderly on the lips._

* * *

Keith's visit was exactly what Natalie needed to get her through the rest of January. In fact, it helped so much that she could hardly believe it when it was February first and six days to her due date.

The next two days were filled with the same nervous tension that she had felt earlier but by the third day, this had subsided considerably and she almost felt like her normal self again and was incredibly content when she got into bed on the evening of the sixth.

She was content, that is until she woke around midnight and had to go to the bathroom. Groaning, she hauled herself out of bed and padded into the bathroom down the hall. There, she found that the fluid that had leaked onto her underwater did not smell like urine…

"MOM!" she shouted as she hurried out of the bathroom into her parents' room where she found her mom sitting straight up in bed.

"Natalie? What is it? What's wrong?" she asked at the sight of her.

"I…I think my water just broke," Natalie gasped.

Natalie sure she had never seen her parents move faster than they did that night. Once her mom heard that had her water had broken, she quite literally, smacked her husband awake before she got up and led Natalie back into her bedroom to change into some sweats. Then, while Natalie made sure she had everything for her stay at the hospital, her mom went to make sure that the rest of the family was awake.

And then they all piled into the car, on the way to the hospital.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Natalie was lying on a hospital bed, hooked up to various machines and IVs. Now that she was finally at the hospital and thus in a safe and clean environment, her nervousness had subsided slightly only to be replaced by the growing pain of her contractions.

"Did you call Henry?" she asked the moment her mom stepped into the room followed by Dr. Covington.

"Honey, it's the middle of the night and you're far from being full dilated, I think we can call him when it gets closer to morning," said Caroline gently.

"No!" Natalie yelled. "I want him here and I think he'd want to be here too, no matter what time it is! Please, call him, Mom!"

Her mom sighed but took out her cell phone and stepped out of the room and returned five minutes later with a small smile on her lips and said, "He's on his way and he almost yelled me asking why we didn't call him earlier."

Not five minutes after she had made the call, Henry appeared in the door and instantly sat down at her bedside. "I'm so glad you're here," said Natalie, the moment he did so.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," he replied sincerely, "and since my son can't be here to help you through this, I might as well and I'm glad to do so," he added with a smile.

"I wanted you to be here from the beginning," Natalie told him, "and any advice before I start going insane with pain?"

"The best thing to do is try and get some sleep," he advised, "you're going to need all your strength for later on." He paused and then added, "Don't worry, Natalie, you're going to be just fine. Now that you're here, there's finally a light at the end of these long months."

"Definitely," she agreed. Then, she felt her eyelids begin to close and she quickly succumbed to sleep.

**Author's Note: Well, Natalie is finally going into labor! The next chapter will of course contain the actual birth (which probably won't have a lot of physical description since I can't base it off of personal experience) and it will also have another appearance from Keith. So that's what you have to look forward to! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review!**


	18. Emerald Eyes

**Author's Note: Well, here is the chapter I'm sure you've been waiting for, the chapter where Peanut is finally born and is finally give an actual name. I hope no one in the medical field reads this because I'm sure I got a ton of things wrong with describing her labor, I went on Google like five times while writing this chapter! Seriously! Well, I hope it paid off and you can enjoy the chapter and as always, please review!**

Chapter 18

Emerald Eyes

She woke up three hours later and was greeted by a gripping pain in her abdomen. She gritted her teeth as the contraction passed and then sighed heavily.

"God, I'm such a wimp, I can't even handle the early labor contractions," she said to herself and was therefore surprised when her mom replied, "Well, they aren't the most fun things in the world, but the result of them is what matters the most," she added with a smile.

Natalie nodded and then looked around the room, realizing that her mom was the only one with her. "Where is everyone?" she asked.

"Dad, Zach and Cynthia went back home, I'm going to call them when you get farther along, Henry is…right here," she said as he entered the room, carrying two Styrofoam cups of coffee. He handed one to Caroline and then sat down in his seat next to Natalie.

"Henry, you can go home if you want, her doctor said that her contractions are still pretty far apart that it could be awhile," said Caroline.

"Shut up, Mom," Natalie muttered, too low for her mom to hear. "You don't get it all, why don't _you_ go home if it's so frickin' important."

"Thank you but no, I'm fine right here. I've already done this once, I can certainly do it again," Henry replied with a smile.

Natalie looked up at him curiously. "Was Keith born in the middle of the night too?"

"He was born at five in the morning. Poor Sandra was so mad at him at first, saying why he couldn't be born at a decent time like one in the afternoon. Granted, I think her amount of pain played a role in her anger," he added. "Her mom was very traditional and insisted that she have as natural a birth as possible so that meant no pain medication."

"Mom, I will seriously smack you if you don't let me have an epidural," Natalie promptly told her mother. While her mom laughed, she looked back at Henry and asked, "Did you have any say in it? I mean, you were her husband after all."

"Well, as the man I was the ignorant one on childbirth so of course, I couldn't make any good decision as to how my wife had my child…at least according to Doris," he finished with a roll of his eyes.

Natalie would've laughed at that, had she not been seized by yet another contraction. When it was over, she said, "I think they're getting worse, Mom."

"No, you'll know when they get worse, Nat, trust me," said her mom.

"Yeah, just wait until they get to be ten minutes apart," Henry said.

"Please, don't remind me," Natalie groaned. Just then, Dr. Covington poked her head into the room and said, "Natalie! You're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted," she said. "I can't even handle a few little contractions."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," said her doctor gently as she walked into the room. "I'm just going to take a peek down there to see how everything's progressing, okay?"

"Okay."

Two minutes later, Dr. Covington sat back and said, "Everything looks good, your contractions should be getting stronger and closer together soon, so we're getting there. I'll come in a little bit to see how you're doing." She patted her warmly on the shoulder and then left the room.

Time dragged by after that, even though her water had broken, that did not mean that her baby would be born right away as Henry explained to her. "Sometimes, it can be twenty four hours before it actually comes out," he said.

"Oh, please, don't say that I'm enough pain as it is," Natalie sighed. "God, I wish Keith was here."

"So do I, Natalie, so do I. Not that I don't mind helping you of course, but I'm sure he would say something to lighten us all up," said Henry.

_Of course, he would_, Natalie thought to herself. _He would be cracking jokes right and left. _And she smiled at the thought.

For next few hours, Natalie laid in bed and only got up occasionally to go to the bathroom which was a chore in an of itself and she was so grateful to crawl back into bed only to have to endure yet another contraction. She hadn't been timing them but apparently her mom had as she asked if she wanted an epidural.

"Oh, hell, yes!" Natalie cried. "Please, I'll feel so much better, please!"

And so five minutes later, she was sitting up and scrunching her face in pain as the thick needle was inserted into her spine.

"Now this is gonna make you tired, honey so once you wake up from this, it should be time to have your baby," said the nurse once she was finished and helped Natalie to lie back down.

"Good, I just wanna be done with this," Natalie sighed, already beginning to feel drowsy. But before she fully fell asleep again, her mom said, "Hey, Nat, guess what? Brooke's on her way."

"Really? Oh, good, wake me up when she gets here," Natalie mumbled as sleep claimed her once again.

_And was promptly woken up again when Keith's voice remarked. "You know, I never thought I'd actually be happy to be in a hospital again."_

_Natalie opened her eyes and saw him sitting in the chair that his dad had been sitting in. He was smiling at her and squeezed her hand gently. "How're you doin', partner?"_

"_Much better now that I have that epidural," she answered. "But the nurse said it would take a few—ow!" she cried suddenly as the worst pain flooded into her. It felt like the worst menstrual cramp ever and she couldn't believe she had thought her earlier ones were bad compared to this one._

"_Breathe, partner, breathe," she heard Keith say very close to her and through the pain, she felt his arms wrap around her and hold her tightly. She dug her nails into his shirt as the pain finally ebbed away, yet she still held onto him and he stroked her hair._

"_Oh, god, that was horrible!" she cried. "Oh, god that hurt!"_

"_I know, I know," Keith soothed. "But it'll be over soon, it'll all be over soon."_

"_I can't do this without you, Keith," she wailed into his shoulder._

_Here, he pulled away from her to look into her face. "Yes, you can, Natalie and you will. You have to."_

"_No, I can't! I want you here with me!"_

"_But I am here, I'm here whenever you need me," he told her as he kissed her on her forehead. "Like you need me now."_

_Natalie nodded in reply. She knew that he was trying to make her feel better, but it wasn't the same as having him with her in a dream than it was in real life. _

_He continued to hold her and rubbed her back soothingly which helped to ease her pain, mild as it was thanks to the epidural yet it still meant a lot to her. Eventually, however he released her and sat back down, his face expressionless. "I'm sorry that you have to go through this, partner. Seeing you like this, makes me wish I had kidney stones while I was alive."_

"_Keith, it's all part of bringing our daughter into the world and besides, c-sections take longer to recover from anyway," Natalie replied and then the last part of what he had said hit her and she asked promptly, "Why the hell would you want kidney stones? You had _cancer_, isn't that bad enough?!" _

"_I know, but isn't having kidney stones like, childbirth for men? So if I had them, I'd at least have some idea of what you're going through," he said, a small smile gracing his lips._

_Natalie laughed at that. "Keith, I think you're one of the few people I know who would actually _want_ kidney stones."_

"_Better those than cancer," he remarked but then said quickly, "Enough of about me, let's talk about this little girl of ours."_

"_What about her?"_

"_Well, as her dad I have a few things that I want to make sure you have her do as she grows up."_

"_Okay."_

"_First, don't have her join every frickin' club her high school offers, don't have her join a sport if she doesn't want to and please, let her date whoever she wants…unless he's like a druggie or a player, then you can put your foot down."_

"_Fair enough," said Natalie with a smile. "Anything else?"_

"_Let her go to whatever college she wants to," said Keith, "except U of I, that school is just ridiculous and everybody and their cousin goes there anyway."_

"_I'm all right with that, I don't wanna drive all the way to Champaign anyway," said Natalie. _

"_I think that's all from me, then," said Keith, "you're gonna do great, Natalie. She's gonna be the best little girl ever!"_

"_I should hope so, with you as her dad." She smiled then at his signature smirk and then he kissed her gently on the lips. She felt her eyes begin to close then yet still heard him whisper. "Remember, I'll be watching you two and I'll love you always."_

When Natalie opened her eyes, she found Dr. Covington talking quietly to her mom and waited until they had finished before she asked, "Everything okay?"

"Yes, everything's just fine, how are you feeling?" Dr. Covington asked.

Natalie opened her mouth to reply but was cut off when an intense pain shot through her, it wasn't as painful as the contractions she had had before but it was definitely more pronounced.

"I…I feel like my baby wants to be born," she gasped as the pain suddenly intensified.

"Just hang on a second, hun and let me take a look," said her doctor quickly. A moment later, she nodded. "Yup, you can definitely start to push now."

At this, Natalie's heart threw itself against her rib cage and a wave of nervousness washed over her. Yet, she instantly felt someone grab her hand and squeeze it tightly and she glanced up to see Henry staring down at her. "You can do this, Natalie," he said firmly. "Squeeze my hand, I don't care how hard."

She shook her head as tears pricked her eyes. "No, I can't, Henry. I really thought I could do this without him but I can't! I want him, I _need_ him here!"

"I know, sweetheart, I know but he's not here and you need to bring your daughter into the world now," said Henry soothingly.

Natalie shook her head defiantly. "No, no, I can't! I can't do it!" she ended in a wail as the pressure of her baby bore down on her. She screamed as she buried her face in her pillow, wanting it all to end and for Keith to hold her in his arms and calm her.

Whether it was because she needed Keith so much or some part of her panicked and pain wracked brain took over, but when she looked up again, she found that it wasn't Henry holding her hand, but Keith. He didn't say anything, just stared at her with his emerald eyes shining warmth and love.

And she stared straight into their swirling depths as she fought to bear their child, his gaze never wavered. Even as she screamed again and cried out for it to end, his intense gaze never ceased and kept her from giving up. Until eventually, a high pitched shriek drowned out her pain filled ones and Dr. Covington, smiling broadly, handed her her squalling blood soaked daughter, cord and all.

Tears streamed down Natalie's face at the sight of her and she immediately covered her face with kisses, dirty as it was. When she pulled away she saw that her daughter had opened her eyes.

And Keith's eyes stared back at her.

* * *

She couldn't marvel at her little girl for long because soon a nurse took away, saying, "I'm just going to clean her up and get her measurements and then you can have her right back." Natalie nodded and feel gratefully back against her pillow as fatigue finally came over her.

"Natalie, you did wonderfully," said a voice beside her and Natalie turned her head to see Henry with the biggest of smiles plastered across his face. "See, now wasn't all the pain worth it?"

"Maybe a little bit," she admitted, "but I don't think I'll be going through that again anytime soon."

"Let's hope not," said her mom from her other side and Natalie saw that she was smiling. Caroline leaned down and hugged her gently. "I agree with Henry, you did amazing, Nat. I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks," Natalie sighed as her mom released her. "I'm glad it's over though." She sat up when she saw the nurse carrying her daughter who was now quiet and wrapped in a light pink blanket followed by Dr. Covington. "She's perfectly healthy, Natalie," she announced as the nurse returned her baby to her arms, "so there's nothing more for me to do at the moment. I'll let you two get acquainted and I'll check up on you in a little bit."

Natalie was only half paying attention as she only had eyes for her daughter.

"So, are you going to tell us her name now?" Her mom asked after Dr. Covington had left.

"Her name is Abigail Marie Zetterstrom," Natalie announced proudly. "Abby for short."

"Beautiful," Henry breathed from beside her. "Absolutely perfect."

"Yes, it is," Caroline agreed with a smile, "and now if you'll excuse me, I have to go inform the anxious mob outside." And then with a quick kiss on Natalie's cheek, she left the room.

Once she was gone, Natalie looked at Peanut, whom she could now officially call Abby. She was absolutely beautiful. Her green eyes blinked up at her curiously as Natalie stroked her petal soft skin with the tip of her finger.

"Hey there, honeybun," she said softly. "I'm so glad you're here, I've waited a long time to meet you." Here, she lifted her up a little so Abby could see Henry, "and so has your grandpa, I think it's about time you two met each other." With tears in his eyes, Henry took his granddaughter in his arms. Natalie watched with tears forming in her own eyes as Henry kissed her forehead and then hugged her to his chest. Then, he looked up at Natalie and said in a voice barely above a whisper, "She's perfect, Natalie. I know I've probably said that a hundred times already but I just can't help it, she's just so perfect."

Natalie was about to reply but was interrupted by the arrival of the rest of her family and Brooke who was all smiles as she hurried to Natalie's side.

"I got here as fast as I could! I think went over the speed limit a couple of times but it was like frickin' black out so I don't think anyone really cared and I don't care, 'cause I'm here now!" she cried as she hugged her. "So, how was it? The whole labor thing?"

"Painful," Natalie admitted, "but worth it."

They watched as Abby was passed from one person to the next. Her dad, much to Natalie's surprise, had the same reaction as Henry. "Dad, don't cry!" she laughed as his face turned a bright pink. "This is a happy moment!"

"I know but…but I'm just remembering when you guys were born and how it was the best days of my life and now I'm a grandpa!" he sniffed.

For all of her excitement at being an aunt, Cynthia was incredibly nervous when Abby was finally handed to her but once she was safely in her arms, she said, "Natalie, she's so cute! She's gonna be the best little niece ever, I can tell!"

"Yeah, I think she's gonna be all right," Zach added, "as far as girls go." But when Cynthia made to give her to him, he backed away instantly.

"Go on, Zach, say hello to your niece," Natalie coaxed.

"I…I don't wanna break her," he admitted nervously.

"You won't break her, Zach, and if you do I'll just get another one somehow." And she laughed at her parents' complete looks of horror and shock.

Relaxed by her words, Zach took Abby into his arms and although he still looked incredibly nervous, he managed to smile down at her and say, "Hey there, kiddo, I'm your Uncle Zach and I'm gonna have so much fun corrupting you!"

"No, you won't 'cause I won't let you," Natalie snapped. As glad as she to see her family interacting with her daughter, she was much gladder when she was finally returned to her arms.

"Whoa, her eyes are green, that's so cool!" cried Brooke once she was able to get a good look at Abby.

"Keith's eyes were green, Brooke."

"Well, yeah but most babies are born with blue eyes and then they don't change till later. But hers are already green, that's so _weird_!"

_No it's not,_ Natalie thought, _it just shows that she takes after her dad and I wouldn't want her eyes any other way._

Eventually, Natalie's family filed out to give both mother and child some time to rest. Even Henry left, but only after Natalie convinced him to leave, saying that he needed to get something to eat after such a long night. He reluctantly agreed and left the room.

With her daughter already napping in her arms, Natalie leaned gratefully against her pillow and welcomed the sleep that claimed her.

**Author's Note: Well, there you go! Peanut aka Abby is finally born! Hope you liked it and please review! This is not the end of this story yet, we still have a few more chapters to go so I will update when I can! Please review!**


	19. Beautiful Soul

**Author's Note: Okay, I REALLY hope you guys like this chapter 'cause I've had this idea in my head since I started (or I guess agreed to continue) this story. It contains the last appearance from Keith, that's all I'm gonna say so I hope you like it and please review!**

Chapter 19

Beautiful Soul

"You know, I always thought that the Angel of Death would be something of a toned down badass. And considering that he's you know, the Angel of Death, there's sort of an expectation that goes along with that," said Keith Zetterstrom casually as he walked across the large hospital parking lot.

"Well, I figured the black robe-and-scythe look might alarm people more than it would calm them and besides that's all just a stereotype for death anyway, not what death really is," said his companion, a clean cut dirty blonde haired man in his late thirties. "Besides, there is the whole blending in factor as well."

"True," said Keith, "and I gotta admit you don't seem like the black wearing type anyway. But seriously, Andy, you could be a mortgage broker for all I know."

"My name is Andrew, Keith," said the man, "and I'd appreciate it if in the future, you remember that."

"I know, I'm just not one for formalities," said Keith.

"And I hope that in my human life, I would've had a much more exciting job than a mortgage broker," Andrew continued, this time in mock sternness.

"You mean you don't remember what your job was while you were alive?"

"No, I was a caseworker for a long, long time before I became responsible for bringing people home."

Keith nodded in understanding as the two of them reached the hospital entrance and went inside.

"Okay, down to business," said Andrew once they were inside. "I have some people to see so I think it's best if you head off to the maternity ward on your own and spend some time alone with your daughter, how's that sound?"

"Good." And before Keith could ask which way he was supposed to go, Andrew sauntered off. This problem was easily solved after he had consulted a hospital map and then took the elevator up to the maternity ward.

When he arrived, nervousness hit him like a punch in the stomach. He didn't know why he was nervous; he was only going to meet his daughter, not some important official.

But it was _his daughter_.

"Can I help you?" asked the young nurse behind the long front desk.

"Um, yeah," said Keith, stepping forward. "My girlfriend went into labor late last night and I didn't get the message until this morning and well…" he let his voice trail off, not knowing what else to say. Usually he could've thought of some great story but his nervousness was overpowering his lying abilities.

"Well, the important thing is you're here now," said the nurse kindly. "What's her name?"

"Natalie Anderson."

"Well, she's in Room 411 but your daughter is in the nursery area since your girlfriend is still recovering."

"All right, thanks," said Keith politely and then headed off down the hall.

* * *

As much as he wanted to, Keith was not allowed to see Natalie in person because as Andrew had explained to him, how he would he like it if someone he knew to be dead suddenly appeared at his bedside and seemingly in the flesh? The last thing Keith wanted to do was give Natalie a heart attack at the sight of him, especially after going through childbirth. But it still upset him to know that he couldn't at least peek in on her.

So that was why, instead of making his way to her room, he made his way to the nursery.

It was a large room full of simple cribs that contained one infant in either a pink or blue cloth cap. Even though there were name plates attached to the front end, something in Keith told him exactly where he needed to go.

She was towards the end of the second row. When Keith glanced at the name plate at the end saw that her name, as Natalie had told him was Abby, just as he had picked. Then he looked down at Abby herself and he saw his own green eyes looking curiously up at him as if to say, _Okay, I've seen so many people already, now who are you?_

"Hey, there," said Keith softly. "I'm…I'm your daddy." Then he reached into the crib and feeling extremely nervous, picked her up and laid her awkwardly in his arms. Thankfully, there was a rocking chair nearby where he sat down and was able to settle her more comfortably in his arms. Once this was done, he couldn't believe how…right it felt.

"You look a lot like your mom, you know that?" Keith said finally. "Guess I was right when I said that if you were a girl, you were gonna be as pretty as her. I can tell already." Then, he pressed his face to her small one and kissed her forehead, breathing in her warm, clean scent that smelled so new and fresh.

"This is the last time you're probably gonna see me for awhile," he continued as he sat back. "I gotta go someplace else after this and you can't come with me but Mommy will explain all that to you when you're older." He stopped then as he felt tears begin to form but pressed on with a shaky breath. "You know, I never really thought of what it would be like to be a dad but now that you're here, I can see why my dad always said that I was the best thing that ever happened to him. I think you're the best thing that's ever happened to me too, except falling in love with your mommy of course," he added with a smile. He didn't talk after that for several minutes as he rocked Abby in his arms. Eventually, she rolled over and snuggled against his chest, at which point Keith felt his heart melt with love and affection for her. Father and daughter stayed this way for a long time until a voice asked softly, "So, Keith, what do you think?"

Keith jumped a little and looked behind him to see Andrew leaning against the doorframe, smiling warmly.

"I think I'm in love," said Keith, voice thick with emotion. "I never thought I'd feel this way about someone other than Natalie." He turned back to Abby then and found that she had rolled back over onto her back and was now staring up at him again. He stroked her cheek with his pinkie finger and was surprised (and thrilled) when she grabbed hold of it with one hand and held on with more strength than he thought was possible. He grinned down at her and kissed her forehead as happiness flooded through him.

But that happiness turned cold when Andrew said gently. "It's time to go, Keith."

He looked up sharply at him only to find that he was now crouching next to him, his face expressionless.

"No!" cried Keith as he hugged Abby to his chest. "No, it's not time yet! I can't say goodbye to her yet, it seems like all I do now is say goodbye!"

"Keith, you've already done more than you're allowed, going to visit Natalie like you have," said Andrew. "It's time to let the living move on with their lives."

Keith shook his head, defiant. "No, I can't. She's my daughter and I can't leave her like this. I—I'm supposed to take care of her!"

"But, you _will_ take care of her, Keith, just in a different way," Andrew assured him. "No matter what, you'll always be her dad and she'll love you just as much."

Keith nodded, reluctantly. "Yeah, I get what you're sayin', Andrew, but I still don't like it."

"Of course you don't, Keith but it's just how it is," he said as he got to his feet. Keith got to his feet as well, but very slowly so he could keep Abby in his arms as long as possible. Yet all too soon, he laid her gently back into the crib and gently pried his finger out of her tiny one. Then, he forced a watery smile on his face as he stroked the few light blonde hairs on her head and said, "I love you, Abby. I wish I could stay but I gotta go, sweetheart. You be a good girl for Mommy, okay?" He kissed her cheek and hugged her gently before he allowed Andrew to lead him back through the nursery and eventually back to where they both belonged.

**Author's Note: Any **_**Touched By An Angel**_** fans still out there? If so, you guys probably recognize Andrew from this chapter! I was particularly proud of myself for remembering him and including him in this chapter since I have fond memories of watching the show as a kid. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, I've been waiting to write this one for awhile! Please review!**


	20. Motherhood

**Author's Note: Wow, chapter 20, I can't believe it! A lot of stuff happens in this chapter, you'll see Natalie taking care of Abby as an infant and then later on as a toddler. You will also see (don't kill me!) another boy come into Natalie's life. So I hope you like it and please review!**

Chapter 20

Motherhood

A few days later, Natalie and Abby were finally able to go home. The first thing she did once they all got home was give her a tour of the house and especially her nursery. Then, she changed her diaper (something that she was priding herself on quickly mastering) and laid her down for a nap.

"I hope you realize how much your life is going to change now, Nat," said Caroline the moment Natalie entered the kitchen a moment later.

"Mom, my life has _been_ changed for the past nine months!" Natalie laughed as she began fixing herself a sandwich for lunch.

"Having Abby here now won't make it any different, it'll just make it better!"

"Well, you're a lot optimistic than I was when I had you," Caroline remarked.

"What do you mean?"

"Natalie, I was scared out of my mind! Suddenly I was a mom who was responsible for all of a person's needs and survival and this was _with_ your father around," she said.

"Mom, I can take care of her by myself, I know I can," said Natalie firmly, not really wanting to start an argument. "Abby's the best thing that's happened to me, I've been saying that from the beginning. Now, if you don't mind I'm going to go take a nap in case I have to get up a lot tonight." And with that, she marched out of the kitchen and up to her room, eating her lunch as she went.

She was right about getting woken up that night although it was only twice, once for changing and once to be fed, which Natalie could understand, considering that she was a baby after all. On the third night that this happened however, her mom suggested that she just let her cry since she needed learn to sleep through the night.

"Besides, if you keep feeding her throughout the night, she's going to expect that and keep waking up," she added.

"But I can't just let her cry, Mom! What if she really needs me or something?!" Natalie protested.

"Trust me, Nat, I know what I'm talking about and she'll be fine, don't worry."

"Yeah, yeah, okay."

And so the next night, when Abby started to cry, Natalie laid in bed listening and resisting her maternal instinct to go and comfort her. But eventually after about two minutes (that felt like an hour) she stopped and did not make any noise for the rest of the night and Natalie had realized that the phrase "Mother knows best" had a whole new meaning.

As the weeks went on, Natalie was confined to her house taking care of Abby while her family went off to work or school. Truthfully she enjoyed it at first as it gave her some time to bond with her but after while she started to get cabin fever and realized that if she had to spend a one more day alone in her house, she was going to go insane.

Then, salvation came in the form of a phone call.

* * *

One day, after she had just finished feeding Abby and placed her in her swing (her favorite toy at the moment) when the phone rang. Wondering who could be calling in the middle of the day, Natalie picked it up, glanced at the caller ID and smiled.

"Are you holding my granddaughter hostage?" Henry asked in mock firmness. "I have not seen or even heard one word about her since her birth, shall I come over and investigate?"

"Actually, yes," said Natalie, "if only to save me from going stir crazy."

He laughed at that and then asked, "Would you like me to bring over some lunch?"

"That would be great!"

"Good, I'll see over in a bit."

Fifteen minutes later, Natalie was happily gorging on KFC while Henry multitasked between eating and playing with Abby who was all smiles as she sat on his lap.

"I think she knows who you are," said Natalie with a smile.

"Oh, I'm sure she does, babies are pretty smart like that," Henry replied. Yet his smile faded as he looked at Abby, "God, her eyes are just like Keith's," he said in a slight whisper. "If she were a boy, I'd think she _was_ him."

"Was he a good baby?" Natalie asked curiously.

"He was…until he started crawling. Then, he got into _everything_, we had to watch him all the time," he told her. "I mean, I know babies are naturally curious but he just wanted to look and touch and taste everything! We were shocked when he made it his first birthday and hadn't had any major accidents." He shook his head at the memories. "But he was a good kid, even when he was this little."

_And a good man_, Natalie thought to herself. She picked at her food as thoughts of Keith filled her head. Since having Abby, she hadn't had any more dreams of him and she hadn't expected to. As much as she wished it weren't true, there was really no reason for him to continue to visit her. Sometimes, when she really missed him she would just pull out the photo album of his pictures and look at them for hours on end. She hadn't shown them to Abby yet, figuring that she would wait until she was a little older and would better understand.

Much to her delight, Henry stayed until her parents came home and then ended up staying for dinner since her mom wouldn't hear of him eating alone at home. The evening was one of the happiest that Natalie could remember. Everyone was so relaxed and happy as they talked of every subject imaginable and later played with Abby who was more than happy to be the center of attention. But by the end of it, they were both extremely tired and at least in Natalie's case, extremely happy.

* * *

The next few weeks had their ups and downs. At times, Natalie would just be in awe at what a little miracle her daughter was and how there wasn't a better present that Keith could've given her and other times she would be at her wits' end and seriously wondering why the hell people had multiple children when she couldn't seem to handle one. Thankfully, during these times that her mom or Cynthia (or sometimes both) would step in to help and give her a much needed break.

And so somehow, someway a year passed and she found herself standing in front of Keith's grave once more. She had brought Abby to see Keith's grave once before to at least begin the process of explaining to her as to why her dad couldn't be in her life. But this day in particular, she just wanted to be alone when she visited Keith.

Since it was his birthday, after all.

When she arrived she saw that fresh yellow daffodils and a recent picture of her and Abby had been placed on headstone's base, evidence that Henry had been there. She placed her own small bouquet of lilies next to Henry's. She was sure that Keith would've scoffed at the idea of giving him flowers on his birthday but she had the feeling that he appreciated it just the same, especially the picture.

She sighed shakily and then began. "Hey, partner, Happy Birthday. I'm sure you're having a big party wherever you are and I wish I could be there, but I know you wouldn't want me to be…like you told me during one of your visits." She lowered her head then at the memory of her dreams of Keith that now seemed so long ago. When she raised her head again, she continued. "Abby's doing great, she's growing so fast. I haven't told her about you yet but I will, I promise. She—"

Someone coughed behind her.

Startled, Natalie spun around, expecting to see Henry or a member of her family only to find to her complete surprise, a teenage boy standing before her, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

"Sorry, I—I don't mean to interrupt but you dropped this," he held out one of her gloves since it was still a bit chilly out even in April.

Natalie gave him a wan smile. "Thanks," she said as she took it from him. "I didn't even realize I'd dropped it."

"S'okay, you seemed pretty focused," said the boy. He was wearing only a sweater and scarf though it was cold enough to wear a coat as Natalie was. He had brown hair like Keith, she noticed but it was much lighter like the color of peanut butter. His eyes were a bright blue which she was glad of, she didn't know if she could've kept talking to him if his eyes had been green.

"I'm Natalie by the way," she said finally, breaking the awkward silence.

"Scott," he replied. They shook hands and Natalie asked, "So, who are you here for?"

He hesitated. "Um, my sister, actually. She died about a year ago."

"Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, I mean, it's hard and all but it's just a part of life, you know?"

"Yeah, but I wish it didn't have to be," said Natalie and she glanced back at Keith's headstone as she spoke. When she turned back to Scott, she said to his questioning look. "He was my boyfriend."

"Oh, wow, now I feel awkward," he said and he did look uncomfortable too. Natalie smiled, "It's okay, I don't think he'd mind especially since your name isn't Raphael. He was a…friend of mine who didn't approve of our relationship."

"Jerk," said Scott brusquely. "Why's it any of his business who you date?"

"I have no idea," said Natalie. Silence fell on them again as neither of them knew what to say next until Scott asked, "So, um, sorry but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation but who's Abby?"

"She's my and Keith's daughter," Natalie replied, somewhat nervously as she didn't know how he would react considering that she'd just met him. "But I didn't find out until after Keith died."

"That really sucks," he said sincerely, "I know it's not his fault for dyin' and all but if I got my girlfriend pregnant, I'd be a man and stick around and help. Unlike my cousin's boyfriend." Here, he rolled his eyes and shook his head in disgust.

"What happened?" Natalie asked curiously.

"Well, everyone really liked him at first but I thought he was a complete poser, and once she told him that she was knocked up he was all like, 'Oh, snap, how the fuck did that happen?!' Idiot."

Natalie couldn't help but laugh. "Did he actually say that?"

"Uh-huh, like I said, complete poser." He said with a smile and then added, "I hope I'm not offending you or anything 'cause I know not all guys like that."

"Oh, no, you're fine," said Natalie. "Hey, I better get going, my parents are probably wondering what's taking me so long."

"Yeah, I should get going too," said Scott.

As they walked back towards their cars, Natalie said sincerely. "It was nice meeting you, Scott. Hopefully, I'll see you around sometime."

"Yeah, it was nice meeting you too, Natalie, and let's just hope it's not here," he said, "I really hate cemeteries. They're so damn depressing!"

Natalie couldn't agree more and after she said goodbye to him, she watched him walk over to his vehicle that was parked several feet away from hers and for some reason she felt chills run down her spine as she looked at it.

It was a truck.

* * *

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, Abby?"

"When's Scott gonna get here?

"In a few minutes, I think."

"Oh."

Two seconds later.

"Mommy?"

"What, Abbs?"

"Are you done yet?"

"No, honey, I still have about two more pages to do. Why don't you go see what Uncle Zach's up to?" Natalie suggested as she kept her eyes firmly fixed on the screen where she was writing a paper for her online English class, or trying to anyway but her two-year-old daughter was making it rather difficult.

But fortunately, Abby liked her idea as she replied with a slight mischievous glint in her eye. "Okay!" And she scampered from the room.

She'd only written two more paragraphs when she heard of a shout of surprise coming from her brother's room and seconds later, Abby bounded back into the room, yelling, "Mommy, he was asleep and I woke him up just like Aunt Cynthia showed me!" She looked incredibly pleased with herself and Natalie shook her head, patted her daughter on the head and said, "Good girl."

Five minutes later, Scott arrived and Natalie watched as Abby ran into his arms and he swung her around, hugging her tightly. When he glanced over at her, his eyes smiling, Natalie felt a strange mixture emotions flood over. She was happy that he was here because he had become such a good friend and father figure for Abby but seeing him look so happy around her daughter, only made her think of Keith and how he would react the same way.

Scott had come over for dinner as he did once a week. Her parents loved him and Natalie was sure they were waiting for them to start dating, but she had only seen him as a good friend who also happened to be raising a child with her who was not even his. She didn't know why he had stuck with her this long, knowing what he did. Even though it had been two years since Keith's death, she felt that if she got into a serious relationship with someone it would be as if she was cheating on him or something.

But he had _wanted_ her to find love again, didn't he? Yes, but that didn't mean that _she_ wanted to, at least not yet.

"So what are your guys' plans for tonight?" Caroline asked during dinner.

"We're gonna watch Nemo!" Abby announced instantly.

"Yup," Scott agreed, "We're gonna watch _Finding Nemo_. I can't believe she hasn't seen it yet! It's so cute!" He said to Natalie.

"Scott, she's two years old!" Natalie laughed.

"So? I think I saw every Disney movie by age five…except for the ones that scared me of course."

"Is Nemo scary?" Abby asked, suddenly worried.

"Nope, well there's some sharks in it but they're funny sharks," Scott assured her.

And so after dinner, the three of them piled onto the couch and Scott started the movie. While she did think it was very cute, Natalie was exhausted from the day with Abby and going to school at the local community college and before she could stop herself, she felt her eyes drift close as she slipped off to sleep.

And then she began to dream…

**Author's Note: I know, I know, horrible cliffy! But I'm sure you can all guess what she's going to dream or maybe **_**who**_** she's going to dream about. *wink wink. You'll see the dream in the next chapter as well as when Natalie finally tells Abby about Keith. Hope you liked it especially the entrance of Scott and please review!**


	21. Sweet Dream, Harsh Reality

**Author's Note: All right, here's the chapter that contains Natalie's dream. Who is she going to dream about I wonder? Read on to find out and please review!**

**Special thanks to Vestige of Femininity on The Hive site whose adorable story inspired Natalie's dream. **

Chapter 21

Sweet Dream, Harsh Reality

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, peanut?"

"Are you _sure_ Mommy knows what she's doing?"

"I dunno, peanut but I'm pretty sure that she's learned her lesson from when she set the smoke alarm off last time."

"Good, 'cause that was really scary." Abby whispered, although being only two years old, her whisper really wasn't that much of a whisper while Keith, Natalie noted wasn't even trying to hide his presence as he spoke in his normal voice.

"There's no reason to be scared this time, Abby," said Natalie as she rummaged through a drawer. "I am perfectly capable of reading directions off of a box." Here, she straightened up and turned around to face her fiancé and daughter where she saw that Abby was in her favorite place: her father's arms. Keith flashed her a cocky smirk when she locked eyes with him.

"I think Mommy heard us, Daddy," Abby giggled.

"Yup, she did. She's too smart for us, I guess," said Keith. He pointed to Natalie and added, "Go give her a kiss and then we'll go read some more so she can cook, okay?"

"Okay!" With that, she leapt from her perch and ran into Natalie's arms where she placed a wet kiss on her cheek. "Daddy's reading Harry Potter to me, Mommy!" she announced afterward.

"Really?" Natalie glanced up at Keith who was looking very pleased with himself. "Which one?"

"Oh, we're starting from the beginning," he replied. "It's really good, I think I'm starting to like them as much as she is."

"You, Keith? Liking a book? Why am I not documenting this?" Natalie laughed as she stood up to resume making breakfast for her family.

"I know it's hard to believe," Keith sighed, "but it helps when your reading public is so attentive." He grinned as Abby ran back into his arms. He kissed her cheek affectionately and then told her. "Go back into the living room, I gotta talk to Mommy for a second, okay?"

Her face fell a little but she nodded and once he put her down, she skipped jauntily away.

Natalie shook her head. "You two are just like peas in a pod. You better enjoy this while you can, Keith, 'cause one day she's not gonna want anything to do with you."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't think that's ever gonna happen, partner."

"Of course, you don't, 'cause she's got you wrapped around her little finger, but she won't always."

He shrugged. "Well, then I just won't think about the future then. I'll stick to my motto; live in the moment."

"Sounds like a plan, Keith," said Natalie, although she was glad that she was able to think about the future especially with him now that she had been reassured over and over that he was cancer free.

They lapsed into silence after that. Natalie poured the carefully measured amounts of water and powered pancake mix into the bowl and began to stir them with a spoon. Finally she asked, "You're not _really_ reading Harry Potter to her, are you?"

"I am, we're almost halfway through too."

"Shouldn't you try something, oh I dunno, a little more age appropriate like Beatrix Potter or Dr. Seuss? I think Harry Potter's a bit…advanced for a two-year-old."

"For your information, partner, I _have_ read some of those Peter Rabbit books to her and she cried," said Keith matter-of-factly.

"She _cried_?!"

"Yes, do you know how scary those books are? Poor little rabbits always having to worry about getting baked in pies and frogs almost getting eated by fish."

"I don't think 'eated' is a word, Keith."

"It's an Abbyism," he answered as if that made it a word and then continued as if she had never interrupted him. "So, not wanting to be the reason behind her crying, I skipped all of the so called appropriate books for her age group and went straight to the one thing that almost every kid seems to love. And lemme tell you partner, she's never been quieter than when I'm reading that book to her."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "All right, Keith, you win." She gave the batter a few more strong whips before she decided that it was ready and then poured a little of it onto the frying pan to see if the pan was hot enough.

"You remembered to turn the stove on, didn't you?" Keith asked then.

"_Yes_, Keith, the stove is on," she said exasperatedly.

"Okay, just checkin'."

"Daddy!" came an annoyed call from the living room.

"My reading audience awaits!" Keith announced and after giving Natalie a quick kiss on the cheek, he hurried from the room.

Natalie spent the next ten minutes making pancakes and after she had made what she felt would be enough, she set the table and then called her family to eat.

When he arrived, Keith instantly grabbed three pancakes and spread butter on each one before he stacked them one top of the other and then doused them with syrup. He smirked when he noticed Abby watching him intently and offered her the bottle, "Want some, peanut?"

She wrinkled her nose in reply. "Ew! No! That stuff is so gross!"

"It's not gross, it's sweet," Keith told her as he set it down and began cutting his stack of pancakes. "Just like you!" He added, ruffling her hair and she giggled in reply.

After breakfast, Abby went off to play while Natalie and Keith washed dishes. After several minutes, Keith said suddenly. "You took your ring off right?"

"Yup, it's on the table."

"Good, I'd hate for you to lose it."

"So would I, espeically since you gave it to me. And you really didn't need to Keith, I would've been just fine with a wedding one."

"Well, I wanted to make it offical and I wanted to, anyway. Besides, if your mom had been in charge, you wouldn't have gotten a wedding ring until Abby was in school! I can't believe she wanted us to wait so long at first!"

"I know but she just wanted to make sure we were settled and everything first."

"We've had this house for a year already and we're not even out of college!"

"I know, but she just wants the best for us and I think she's insecure since her first kid has started settling down and all."

He chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like your mom."

They continued washing in silence after that before Natalie asked, "So have you told Abby about the truck show this weekend?"

"No, I still have to perfect my plan of attack."

"Keith! She's two years old! Not some criminal mastermind."

"True, but I know that if I tell her straight out, she'll unleash the waterworks or worse, a tantrum." He shrugged helplessly and added, "What can I say? I'm her dad and I just wanna make her happy."

"No, you just wanna spoil her rotten."

"No, that would be Grandpa Henry…and Aunt Cynthia."

"Oh, I think you factor into the equation too, Keith," said Natalie with a smile. "So, what _do_ you plan to do about telling her?"

"Well, partner, I'd figure I'd do what every good dad does," he replied with a knowing smile.

"Which is what?"

"Bribe her."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Again, Keith you need to understand that your daughter has you wrapped around her little finger."

"Of course she does," he agreed with his signature lopsided grin, "she's my daughter." He continued drying the plate that Natalie had handed him for a few seconds before he said. "I may not be home for dinner tonight, me and my dad have a few, uh things to do before for the trip."

Natalie's head shot up at the word 'things' and she immediately asked sternly. "What kind of _things_, Keith?"

"You know…things."

"Do these 'things' have anything to do with your bride to Abby?"

"Maybe."

Knowing that this meant yes, she snapped instantly. "Keith, tell me right now! What the hell are you and your dad up to?"

"Well, if you want know, which I don't think you do or should…"

"Too bad! Tell me!"

"My dad and me have been doing some research—and let me just say, partner that he supports me completely," he added calmly as Natalie was now pointing a spatula at him as if she meant to stab him with it. She was also glaring at him so that he was forced to back up against the wall.

"Doesn't help your situation at all, Zetterstrom, now spit it out!" she growled.

"We found a really good rescue network of a certain type of canine," Keith began, only to have Natalie hiss. "A _dog_? Keith, you're getting Abby a _dog_?!"

"Not just _any_ dog, partner," said Keith softly. Then he fished into a pocket of his pants, pulled out a folded up piece of paper and unfolded it so that Natalie could clearly see that it was a picture of a yellow Labrador retriever puppy. "_This_ dog."

While she admitted to herself that the puppy was extremely cute, she would never tell Keith and was determined to fight this battle to the end so she said, "Keith, are you insane? Why the hell do we need a dog?"

"Because, I've always wanted one and Abby loves animals. C'mon, partner, don't tell me you never wanted a dog when you were Abby's age…or were you one of those girls who wanted a pony?" He added with a smirk.

"I did _not _want a pony! I wanted a cat, if you want the truth."

Keith snorted. "Cats are so cocky and way too easy to piss off. Dogs, on the other hand, love everybody."

"True, but Keith, this'll be like having another kid!"

"No, it won't 'cause they don't talk back to you or cry every hour…not that Abby does, but you get what I mean." He folded up the picture, put it back in his pocket and then said, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go see what Abby is up to." As he walked out of the kitchen, Natalie called out, "This isn't over, Keith! I still want to talk to you about this since you didn't ask me first!"

"Sorry, partner but I already gave it a name and that makes it final!" he called back happily.

Natalie inwardly groaned. "And what name is that?"

"Wrigley!" he crowed in reply.

* * *

Natalie's eyes flew open and she was instantly confused as to why she was lying on the couch in her darkened living room and not standing in her kitchen, talking to Keith. She sat up slowly and looked around as her recent dream flooded through her mind.

It had seemed so _real_. She could still see his face clearly as if he were standing right in front of her. Her heart pounded in her chest as if she had just run a mile.

And why wasn't it real? Why_ couldn't_ it have been real?

She knew the answer, of course. Keith was dead and he was never coming back.

At this, she pulled her knees up to her chest and pondered the meaning of the dream. Was it some sort of sign that he was still watching? It was very different from her previous dreams of him, for one thing they were in a totally different setting than her bedroom. Why did she have such a dream now? Was some part of her brain showing what she wanted most of all, but knew she could never have? Why had Keith appeared in it and not Scott, since he was the boy in her life now?

The worst part of it, she realized was the fact that in the dream, she was aware that her and Keith were engaged. That knowledge hurt the most of all since she would've wanted nothing more than to marry him and the idea of it made her heart flutter weakly.

Natalie thought about all of these things and while the dream produced a harsh reality, it was because of it that she knew what she had to do.

She had to tell Abby about Keith.

* * *

The next morning, after breakfast, Natalie went up to her room and pulled out the photo album that Henry had given her. She flipped through it briefly as she organized her thoughts on what she was going to say to Abby. Then, taking a deep breath, she went back downstairs.

She found her in the front room, playing and said, "Hey, honey, I've got something to show you."

"What?" Abby asked instantly.

"C'mere and sit on the couch with me."

Once they were both seated, Natalie began. "Abby, do you know why you don't have a daddy?"

"I have a daddy, Mommy, Scott."

"No, he's not your daddy, honey."

Confusion crossed her face, as Natalie expected it would. "He's not?"

"No, Scott is just a really good friend of Mommy's." Here, Natalie opened the album to one of her favorite pictures of Keith. "This is your daddy, Abby."

She waited anxiously as Abby looked at the picture and was both happy and surprised when she exclaimed, "He's got a truck like Scott!"

"Yup, he does."

"What's his name?"

"His name is Keith."

"Keith," she repeated, although she couldn't quite pronounce the 'th' sound yet so it sounded more like 'Keef ' which Natalie found incredibly adorable.

"How come he's not here, Mommy?" Abby asked then.

"Because he's in heaven, sweetheart," Natalie replied as gently as she could.

"Why?"

Natalie sighed and debated on how to best answer her so she would understand but not worry. Finally she said, "Remember that time when you got a cold for a few days?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, Daddy had a disease that made him get a cold really easily. He took medicine like you did but it was a special kind of medicine that sometimes made him get even sicker. But then the medicine stopped working and even though he didn't want to, Daddy went to see the angels in heaven." Here, Natalie placed her hands on Abby's shoulders and continued firmly. "But, honey just 'casue Daddy got sick, doesn't mean that every time you get sick you're going to go see them, okay?"

"Yes, Mommy but if Daddy didn't want to see the angels, why didn't he just say no?!"

"He really wanted to say no, sweetheart, believe me. But like I said, the medicine wasn't working anymore and he was really sick and going to heaven was the only way that he could get better."

"Oh," Abby sniffed. She looked at the picture of Keith again and even though she was so young, she looked deep in thought. Eventually, Natalie asked, "So, do you understand why your real dad can't be here, Abby?"

"Uh-huh, but it makes me sad," she confessed.

"It makes me sad too, Abbs, I wish he could be here more than anything in the world."

"But that's why we have Scott! So we won't be sad!" cried Abby suddenly.

Natalie smiled in agreement. "Yes, we have Scott." And to herself she thought, _And who could be sad around him?_

**Author's Note: I went back to the first chapter of this story where I realized that SmanathaRileyFox had written that Keith had brain cancer, I changed this to leukemia cuz I figured it would be someone what easier for a child to understand, at least I think so. Anyway, didn't expect Keith to appear again did you? I didn't want to get you excited since it wasn't exactly like the dreams of him that Natalie has had previously. I hope you liked it as well as Natalie telling Abby about Keith. Please review!**


	22. A Bright Future

**Author's Note: I'm sorry I didn't give any forewarning on this but this is the last chapter of this story. I don't really see how I can continue it and I think it has gone on as long as it can. I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed this story especially since it wasn't even my own story to begin with. Special thanks to Jmackarla whose review partially inspired the content of this chapter. There's some nice warm fluff in this one, so I hope you enjoy this last chapter and please review! **

Chapter 22

A Bright Future

A few days later, Natalie, Abby and Scott were having a picnic at the cliff that had once been her and Keith's spot. She hadn't returned to their spot since Abby's birth. Now that she was with Scott, the place didn't have the same lonely and somber atmosphere that it had had Keith's death.

After they had finished eating and making sure that Abby was playing a safe distance away from the edge, Natalie turned to her friend and said, "Scott, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," he replied as he popped a potato chip into his mouth. "What's up?"

"We're not holding you back, are we? Abby and I?"

His eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he crunched on his chip. When he had swallowed it, he inquired in disbelief. "Holding me back? Why the hell would you think that?"

"Well, you're taking care of a child that's not even yours and…and you're still young and…" Natalie began to explain, but stopped when Scott laid his hands on her shoulders and looked into her face.

"So what if Abby isn't mine? Who cares? I love her just as if she was my kid and she still loves me even though she knows I'm not her real dad, right?"

Here, Natalie smiled, "Yeah, yeah, she does."

"So, what's the problem then?" he asked with a smile. "Listen, I think you're a little late on this conversation since we've been taking care of her since she was a baby. Don't worry about me, I'm doing exactly what I want to do. I'm going to school and I'm taking care of two wonderful girls and that's more than I could have ever asked for. Abby's a great kid and if you're worried that she's burdening me or somethin' then you worry way too much, partner."

Natalie's heart skipped a beat at the nickname. "What…what did you just call me?" she asked, heart pounding but for what reason she didn't know.

"Partner, 'cause we're partners in rising Abby, right?" he said with a grin.

She relaxed then and smiled. "Yeah, yeah we are."

* * *

Later that evening, after another dinner with Scott, Abby begged him to stay behind and read her a bedtime story.

"Sure, I will!" he told her happily. "I was gonna stay awhile to talk to your grandpa, anyway."

"About what?" Abby asked instantly.

"Something very important," said Scott mysteriously and he glanced at Natalie, who was finishing up drying the dishes.

Once Abby and Scott had left the kitchen to go play (her bedtime wasn't for another two hours) Caroline entered shaking her head. "Natalie, I don't know how you found that boy. He's so sweet with Abby!"

"I know," said Natalie as she put away the last plate, "he's almost too good to be true."

"I like to think that Keith made you two find each other," said her mom with a smile.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Mom, it was just a case of being in the right place at the right time."

"Maybe, but think about it! You meet at a cemetery and you've both lost someone close to you and Scott has brown hair and a truck like Keith!"

"I think you've been reading way too many romance novels, Mom," said Natalie firmly.

"No, she hasn't 'cause I agree with her!" Cynthia declared as she strode into the kitchen. "I also think that he's Keith reincarnated."

"Okay, I'll admit, there are a lot of similarities between them but it's all just coincidence," said Natalie.

"Pretty freaky coincidence, if you ask me," said Cynthia, "I think you and Scott were meant to be and that Keith would want it that way."

Natalie couldn't think of a retort to this so she only said, "I think you have a very over active imagination, Cynthia." And before either her mother or sister could reply, she left the kitchen to look for Abby.

She found her in her room, playing with her Beanie Babies, alone. "Honey, where's Scott?" Natalie asked when she arrived.

"Talking to Grandpa in his office," she answered without looking up.

"Okay." And she went back downstairs to her dad's office to find the door closed. Undeterred, Natalie pressed her ear to the door and listened.

"Have you spoken to Natalie about this?" her dad was saying.

"Not yet, sir, I wanted to get your opinion on it first," Scott answered.

Here, her dad chuckled. "For the hundredth time, Scott, call me Pete. Sir makes me sound more important than I am, and besides you're practically family anyway. And as for what you're asking, I support you wholeheartedly…just go slow for Natalie's sake, Keith's death was hard on her."

"I completely understand," said Scott and Natalie could distinctly hear the sincerity in his voice.

She heard the creaking of chairs then as both of them got to their feet and not wanting to be discovered, she quickly ran into the living room and hid behind a magazine, trying to look as innocent as possible.

Eventually, she sensed that someone was sitting down next to her and without looking up, she asked, "Have a good talk with my dad?"

"Yup, it was great."

"What'd you guys talk about?"

"Nothing you need to know right now."

At this, she peered over the top of her magazine at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"What?" he asked, innocently.

"Nothing _always _means something."

"Yeah, okay, it means something but I'm not gonna tell you what it is. You'll find out sometime soon," he promised. He looked at her for several seconds before he added, "You're pretty cute when you get all curious like this. Maybe I should keep surprises from you more often."

"How about not, because you'll kill me with the suspense."

"Well, I'd hate to do that, since then Abby wouldn't have such a wonderful mom like you. Speaking of her, I should probably go see what she's up to," he added thoughtfully. With that, he got to his feet and before Natalie could even react, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

* * *

A few hours later, after Scott had put Abby to bed (despite all of Natalie's assurances that she could do it herself) he joined Natalie on the couch in the living room where she was catching up on some homework.

"She's all tucked in," he said as he sat down, "and she asked if I could come over to tuck her every night."

"She adores you, that's why," said Natalie as she closed her notebook, "and so do I. Seriously, Scott, why the hell are you so perfect? It's not normal."

He rolled his eyes. "Aw, I've got tons of flaws, you know that."

"Yeah, but I never see them."

"Well, that's 'cause I'm spend most of my time around people I like. You know how my family is."

"I do." The death of Scott's sister was a huge blow to his family, resulting in his parents nearly separating over the stress and grief. They managed to stay together for their son but that didn't necessarily mean things were any better at home, even after three years.

Natalie took his hand in hers then and squeezed it as Scott said, "You and Abby are the only family I could need or want. I know that sounds really corny but it's true." He kissed her cheek again and then smiled at her shocked face. "Just thought it was time to take our friendship to the next level…slowly, that is."

"Again, you are too sweet," she said as she rested her head on his shoulder.

A lot had happened in the last few years, she reflected as she laid there on the couch with her best friend (who seemed to be turning into something more), she had lost the love of her life, only to be given the greatest of gifts from him in the form of her daughter. And then to meet the one person whom she knew could possibly fill Keith's place in her heart…or at least part of it, anyway since she knew there would always be a place for him.

Whatever happened in the future, Natalie didn't know but what she did know was that it would be a much brighter future than she could have imagined, especially after the loss of Keith. His gift to her had been Abby, so a part of him could always remain with her as he always would, but now after becoming friends with Scott, Natalie realized that Keith would be happy to see her move on from his death. And with both of them in her life, Abby and Scott, her future couldn't be brighter.

**Author's Note: Well, there you have it. That's the end! A huge thank you to SamanthaRileyFox for entrusting me to continue her story and I hope I have made her proud since I was very unsure about writing some aspects of the story. Needless to say, I think the story turned about pretty well and I'm very happy with it. Special thanks to acciodanrad9 and Jmackarla who were absolutely wonderful in reviewing every chapter from the beginning! Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone and Happy Holidays! **


End file.
